Percy Jackson and the Olympians: On the Run
by SharkAttack719
Summary: The Lord of the Sky and the Lord of the Dead find out about Percy Jackson long before he reaches camp, which causes the death of his mother. Percy is all alone with nothing but his father to guide him to safety and training. AU. COMPLETE. NEXT IN SERIES IS UP. (A different series to read: Everlasting Hero; find it on my profile page)
1. The Night of Horror

**Hi everyone,**

**This is my new story. It is just an experiment so it is probably going to suck. I know, it has been done before, bla, bla, bla... I just wanted to know your opinion on where to go with this.**

**Does Percy meet Annabeth, Thalia _and_ Luke?**

**Does Percy survive on his own until he is led to camp at age twelve?  
**

**Does Percy meet one of the trio (Annabeth, Thalia _or_ Luke)?**

**Other?**

**Please respond via PM or review.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

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**Percy 1**

**The Night of Horror**

Cars honked from street level, eager to urge their way through late afternoon traffic. The skyscrapers of Manhattan loomed over our building, lit up in the dark of the late winter evening.

Gabe hadn't come home yet, but his beer stench still lingered among the building. At just seven years of age, I didn't know the horrible things that happened when I wasn't there. All I knew was that Gabe would beat me up if I ever told mom that I funded his poker games.

However, over the beer stench, I smelt cookies. My eyes widened as I jumped from the couch.

"Mom! Are you making chocolate-chip cookies?" I peered eagerly at the counter. Sure enough, there were blue chocolate chip cookies sitting on the counter. They were fresh and steam rose from them.

"Special treat tonight," my mom smiled.

Just before I go further, I'd like to introduce my mom. Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck.

Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.

The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.

I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile. My mom doesn't like to talk about him because _it _makes her sad. She has no pictures.

See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.

Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.

She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid. Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was younger, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.

Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard.

But other times, like when it was just my mother and I, we had wonderful times together. We ate blue chocolate-chip cookies and told stories to each other. Usually, my mother and I talked about Greek mythology a lot.

She told me the stories about Zeus, Poseidon and Hades and how they defeated Kronos and the other Titans. She described the punishment for Atlas, who had to hold up the sky for eternity because he was the strongest Titan and Kronos' general. I always ended the story by saying: _So that's why we call maps atlases._How I forgot every time the story got told beats me.

She moved forward from the times of the gods to the times of humans. The first story was the story of Pandora's _pithos_. In school they always said "box," but for some reason, my mom always called it a _pithos_.

As the story finished, I always grumbled about why Pandora couldn't have let out Elpis or "hope."

After Pandora, my mom told me the story about Herakles, otherwise known as Heracles or Hercules. She told me about his brute strength, his ripped muscles, and his twelve labors. Personally, I thought that he was the most impressive hero ever to live in the world. I mean, he killed the Nemean Lion with a club and his bare hands, destroyed a Hydra with ease, captured a deer that the man-hating goddess protected, captured a giant boar with a net, cleaned extremely dirty stables, killed metal birds, wrestled a fire-breathing bull, tamed flesh-eating horses, stole the girdle from the Amazons (who were supposed to be fierce fighters), captured Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog of the underworld (yeah, that's right. Underworld), and take the gold apples of the Hesperides.

For some reason, though, my mom had a tinge of bitterness in her voice as she spoke of him. It was so slight, that someone who didn't know my mom well wouldn't catch it. I, however, knew my mom very well.

She acted as if he'd done a very bad thing in his life.

She told me about Odysseus and Achilles and the Trojan War, Jason and the Argonauts, Bellerophon and the Pegasus, Theseus and the Minotaur, Orion and Artemis, and then finally, my namesake, Perseus.

What Perseus did was pretty amazing. He slayed Medusa and cut her head off. Plus, he was the only hero who got a good ending. Even Hercules, with the amazing things he did didn't get him a nice, happy life.

My attention snapped back to the present as I saw my mom bring the cookies to the kitchen table. She glanced at the clock. It read five-thirty.

"Can I eat the cookies now?" I eagerly asked.

My mom shrugged. "I don't know. _Can_you?"

I pouted. Since I was a little kid, my mom tried to teach me proper manners and how to be polite for my future. Unfortunately, because of my ADHD, I tend to be "inconsiderate" and "rude" at times.

"_May_I eat the cookies now?" I corrected.

My mom smiled. "Yes, you may, Percy."

"Yay!"

I dug into the delicious were buttery and hot, with the chips still melting. Then my senses kicked in. My hair stood up on end and my head darted back and forth, trying to see what was creeping me out.

"Honey, what's wrong?" my mom asked. There was a pleading look in her eyes.

"Nothing," I answered quickly. Maybe a little too quickly.

There was a look in my mother's eyes that I didn't recognize, but as fast as it had appeared, it washed off her face. She smiled sadly. "Everything is going to be all right, Percy," she said.

I nodded along with her, but I couldn't help but get the feeling that something big was about to happen. I glanced outside and noticed the thunderclouds. I frowned. There were no thunder clouds on the weather channel.

"Mom," I said, "why are there thunderclouds out there? The weatherman said that there wouldn't be thunderclouds."

Frowning, my mom got up from her seat from the kitchen table and walked out toward the balcony. I followed her. Sure enough, when we got out to the balcony, there were thunderclouds that were not on the weather channel.

"That's peculiar," mused my mom. "I wonder what-"

She cut herself off. It was for a good reason, as well. There was a sudden change in the mood of the air. Before, everything had been normal, but I could sense this strange humming below me. It was almost as if something was charging below me. As time slowly passed, the humming grew more intense.

"Mom? What-"

A sudden change in the winds occurred. It was like a squall. I looked at my mom, scared for my life. I turned to enter the apartment, but the door slammed shut and I couldn't open it.

The wind increased speed, growing and howling with discontent. Fear shone in my mother's eyes. She quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out a cheap ballpoint pen. She held it out to me. "Take it!"

"What?" I yelled confused.

"It's a powerful weapon, Percy," my mom said. "Uncap it and it will keep you safe from the monsters!"

"What monsters!"

"Percy. You're the son of a god," my mom said, shocking me to the core. "You probably don't believe me, but you're Poseidon's son."

"That's impossible!" I cried.

"Remember what I told you? The gods sometimes fall in love with mortals, and have children with them. Your father didn't get lost at sea. He _is_the sea. Protect yourself, Percy," my mom explained.

"Why are you telling me this? We can escape. Fire escape!"

My mom looked at my sorrowfully...well, as sorrowfully as you can when you're being pushed by a huge wind gust.

Finally, the wind overcame me and pushed me, hard. I grunted as my back collided with the railing. My head reeled back and I almost got knocked unconscious by the blow. In my hazy vision, I saw my mother get knocked over. She landed with a painful grunt.

In the sky, lightning crackled between the thunderclouds. The cars and pedestrians of the street below were flopping like fish as the wind pushed them onto their butts. This was worse than a hurricane in terms of wind speed. It was almost as if Zeus himself was mad at me.

"Percy," my mom croaked. "After World War II, Zeus, Hades and Poseidon swore a pact to never have children ever again. They swore it on the River Styx. You're an illegal child. Hades and Zeus will take any opportunity they can to kill you. You have to get to safety. Your father will protect you. He will guide you."

"Why can't you come with me mom?" I said.

"I- I just can't, honey," she said.

More lightning crackled in the sky. Then, there was another shift in presence. This time, it filled me with dread. The dark and the shadows seemed to get closer to me, as if they were trying to suck me in. Ghosts shimmered in my vision.

"Mom! Ghosts!" I cried.

My mom's eyes were closed and her lips moving silently, as if she were making a prayer. Suddenly, the ghosts disappeared from my vision and the shadows jumped away.

"Thank you, Lady Persephone," my mom muttered.

I glanced back up at the sky and saw lightning flashed in the sky, illuminating the top of the Empire State Building. For a second, I thought I saw a giant mountainous palace above it, but I must've been hallucinating because there's no way that a mountain could float above the Empire State Building. I've never seen it in any of the atlases.

My mom shrieked. I swiveled my head to her and saw that she'd been lifted up, and thrown over the side of the railing. She managed to grab onto the top railing just in time.

An image flashed in my mind. There were two men, grappling each other seemingly to fight for control. One of the men was wearing a pinstripe suit, and the other was wearing beach shorts and a Hawaiian looking t-shirt.

The man in the pinstripe shouted, "Choose. Either the boy, or the mortal!"

The image dissipated and I grabbed my mom's arms. I was still too small and weak to pull my mom up. Instead, I cried at the top of my lungs: "MOM!"

I don't know if it was luck or what, but the wind suddenly stopped a split-second before I yelled. My outcry caught the attention of those on the street. A lot of them gasped and pointed up. I saw a few of them call 911.

"Go, Percy. I love you. I'll always be in your heart. Right here." She pointed to my heart with her free hand. Lightning struck the building next to us and debris flew everywhere. A piece of debris lodged itself in her left hand and she let go, tumbling three stories into the solid cement pavement.

"MOM!"

Nobody was under her to catch her.

"MOM!"

I sprinted down the fire escape to my mother's limp body. Sirens were heard in the distances. A couple of strangers walked up to me to try and comfort me.

Another vision passed flashed in my eyes.

The man in the shorts and t-shirt glared angrily at the man in the pinstripe suit. "What did I ever do to your daughter?"

"Hades is after her!" the suited man replied. "You think I don't care about her safety."

"Hades was after my son too!" the t-shirt and shorts guy yelled. The vision disappeared after the casual looking guy punched the suited guy in the jaw. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

_You're Poseidon's son_, my mom had said.

I pulled the ballpoint pen out of my pocket and looked at it. _Head east_, a voice said in my head. I looked south toward the Empire State Building. I remembered the mountain that was top of there, and I had a suspicion about the fact that my father might be up there, giving me warnings to stay away.

So, defying the shouts and cries of bystanders, running away from my mom's dead body, I ran east, into Brooklyn.

By the end of the night, I reached a small neighborhood where there were plentiful alleyways that I could duck in and out of. As I got ready to sleep, I rolled up in a ball against the wall of the alley and sobbed until I fell asleep. I sobbed and sobbed as nightmares haunted me that night, reminding me of this night of horror.

But now, I'm on the run.

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**Hey everyone,**

**This is just an experiment. It is probably going to suck. ****I know, it has been done before, bla, bla, bla...** But I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing.

**REMINDER: DO NOT GIVE ME THE ENTIRE PLOT! JUST TELL ME HOW YOU WANT PERCY TO GET TO CAMP. VIA ANNABETH, THALIA & LUKE OR BY HIMSELF OR WHATEVER YOU WANT.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	2. The Calling of the Sea

**Hey everyone,**

**If you haven't already, please vote on my poll to see who Percy gets to "meet." Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thank you to those who reviewed:**

**Dr Skiller, Maneden, ArcticTempest, Shadow-God-Time-Hunt-Ice-Tide, BookLuver102, sstabeler, ASSASSIN OF ARTEMIS, wyvern97, Maylona. , Bartimaeus12, Bradd (guest), [A guest], GrayTheBlueJay, DeathmatchDrunkard, bluelotus1670, BarcaFan, and jesse1212.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

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**Percy 2**

**The Calling of the Sea**

Waking up the next morning, I expected it all just to be one of my crazy nightmares. That's why when I woke up in an alley, I screamed like a little girl.

The images of my mother's death flashed in my eyes once again and I grabbed my head. I shut my eyes to get rid of the horrifying experience that had happened the day before, but it only made it worse.

_Go, Percy. I love you. I'll always be in your heart. Right here_, my mom said.

But when I looked down to my chest, I saw nothing. I closed my eyes and thought about my mom, but I felt nothing. The only sounds I could hear were the sounds of cars driving past, birds chirping and the quiet humming of people around the neighborhood.

The tears threatened to well up in my eyes again. _Crying makes you strong_, my mom would always say. _Those who don't cry are heartless, and are bad people._

And so, following my mom's advice, I wept once again in the back alley of a random neighborhood in Brooklyn.

After five more minutes of reminiscing and tearing up, I started to compose myself. _I'm Poseidon's son_, I thought to myself. _He's one of the Big Three. I can survive._

I looked up from my lap and to my surprise, there was a small duffel bag sitting there with a sign labelled: PERCY JACKSON.

Curious to see what it was, I slowly unzipped the bag. Inside of the bag were two neatly folded and cleaned sets of clothes, bottles of water and something that looked like apple juice, and cubes of...pudding?

I took an intake of breath and smelled a faint but familiar smell. It reminded me of beaches and the salty ocean air. There was also the smell of coral and fish. Don't ask me how I knew that. It probably came with being Poseidon's son. Then I realized that Poseidon had sent me this package.

There was a small note placed behind one of the bottles of water. I picked it up and tried to read it. At first, I scrunched my face up because it looked Greek to me. I didn't know Greek. Plus my dyslexia probably messed up the words. After a few more seconds of staring at Greek letters, they started shimmering. Intrigued by this change of events, I didn't throw it away. As the letters hazily came back into my vision, I gasped. They miraculously turned to English letters...that I could actually read.

_Hello Percy,_

_I am sorry I have not made contact in these past years. It is all because of Zeus, who had created an ancient law forbidding gods from ever having contact with their children directly. I am sorry that I could not protect your mother. I truly am. If I could, I would bring you down to my palace with me, but Amphitrite and Triton are understandably furious at me for siring you. I will help guide you along, Percy. I will always be there for you, even if it seems like I am not._

_Poseidon_

I looked down at the small supply of items that my father gave to me. I was puzzled as to why my dad gave me apple juice and cubed pudding, but any food was okay.

I snapped my head up and watched for a few seconds to see if anybody would be passing by this alley anytime soon. There was no one, so I stripped down and changed into the new clothing my father gave me.

I pulled the dirty blue t-shirt that I was wearing off and put on the sea-green t-shirts that my father supplied me with. Then, I slipped off my pants and put on the faded blue jeans that were supplied. Over top of my t-shirt, I slipped on a full-zip black fleece hoodie.

I dusted myself over and looked down. _I definitely look...different_, I thought. A gut feeling in my stomach told me to move. I wasn't exactly sure where, but I just walked. I slung the small duffel bag across my shoulders and walked out of the dirty alley.

As I walked, I couldn't help but notice the beautiful scenery. Aside from Central Park, Manhattan was much more hectic than Brooklyn. I'm not saying that Brooklyn wasn't hectic. In fact, it was, but much less than Manhattan.

Unlike Manhattan with its giant skyscrapers and apartment buildings, Brooklyn was much lower lying. The buildings were also less constricted and more spread out. There were alleys here and there, but in Manhattan there were practically alleys wherever you went **(A/N Not exactly sure about this. I don't live in New York, so sorry)**.

There were similarities, though. As I turned a corner, two cars zoomed by, one trailing the other. The trailing car was a police car and the other one was a gang's car. The police sirens wailed as they weaved in and out of traffic.

I sighed. I may be seven, but when you live in New York and walk on the streets almost every day, you see things that you shouldn't be seeing. I probably knew more about gangs in New York than I did about multiplying numbers up to five.

I passed by an appliance store that was playing a show on television. When I saw who was on television, I immediately stopped. It was Smelly Gabe, Gabriel Ugliano.

Tears were running down his cheeks. _Fake tears_, I thought bitterly.

"I- I can't believe this. My...my wife is dead and my son ran away from home. I heard rumors that he threw himself into the ocean and drowned himself to be with his mom." He wiped his eyes. "May God bless us. And I had to excuse myself from work today to get their life insurance. It- It's just so-" Smelly Gabe burst into more fake tears.

I muttered some bad words about Gabe like: "retard" and "stupid."

"There you have it," the new reporter said. "The story of the death of Sally Jackson and the disappearance of Percy Jackson. For the viewers at home, if you find any trace of Percy Jackson, please call to help Mr. Ugliano here. Here is a photo of Percy Jackson dated to last month."

Sure enough, a picture of me popped up that was taken last month. I was grinning like crazy in the photo. For a second, I admired it, but then I remembered that I was in public. I panicked and hastily turned away from the appliance store. I pulled the hood of my hoodie over my head to cover my hair and part of my face.

I quickly glanced over my shoulder to see if anyone had noticed who I was, but there was no reaction from the people of Brooklyn.

_Check your pockets_, a voice echoed in my head. _Use it wisely._

I stopped for a second, frowning. I reached into my pocket and felt something there. It was smooth, yet rough...like paper. But there were multiple slips of paper. I pulled out five $20 bills and stared at it like I just won the lottery.

"Thank you, father," I whispered, like a prayer.

In that familiar gut feeling, I somehow knew that my father accepted the thanks.

I kept walking down the street when all of the information hit me like a speedboat plowing across the ocean waters. I was the son of Poseidon, a Greek god, who also just happens to be one of the Big Three. My mother was dead, my stepdad had my life insurance money and I was alone on the streets of Brooklyn.

I immediately felt angry at my real father as the thought that he hadn't visited me is seven years sprouted in my head. Why couldn't he have come back? Who cared if Zeus made a rule? You wouldn't be doing anything wrong.

_After World War II, Zeus, Hades and Poseidon swore a pact to never have children ever again. They swore it on the River Styx. You're an illegal child_, I remembered my mom saying.

Okay, my dad would be doing something wrong, but he should've never fallen in love with my mother. He cared now, but what about when I got beat up by bullies and Gabe. I didn't feel the tugging and nagging sensation in my stomach.

Like with the visions of the two fighting men (I still don't know who they are), a vision of my past flashed in my eyes. I was in first grade and a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.

Then I was back in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.

The visions stopped and I stared at my hands in wonder. I slowly closed them. My fists were small and were not very useful in many things, but to think that I had once strangled a snake with my bare hands sounded...how do I say this modestly...pretty okay?

My little head tried to figure out why I had those visions and why they were important, but all I could figure out was that I was being reminded about how I was different than other children.

I may have been mad at my father for not being there for me, but I was seven. I loved almost anything at that age. Ice cream, dogs, trees, grass, water and more water. With a jolt, I realized I had been fascinated with water because I was connected to it. My father was the god of the seas. Water had always been interesting for me. It also explained why I loved hurricanes. And it was probably the reason why New York hadn't gotten a severe hurricane in a couple of years.

I walked into a small diner. I know that a seven year old child walking into a diner by him or herself would look suspicious, but his boy needed some cheeseburgers. As the door shut behind me, the smell of fries and burgers filled my nostrils. I seemed to float like an entranced angel to a booth.

When one of the waitresses came around to check on the tables, she eyed me suspiciously. "Aren't you a little young to be travelling by yourself?"

"My mom is just at home. I decided to take a walk," I lied. "She gave me the money for it."

"Ah, I see, now. Well, what would you like?"

"The regular. Cheeseburger and fries and a milkshake."

"Would you like pickles and tomatoes?"

"Yes, please."

"All right, honey. Your order'll be around soon."

There was something a little weird there. I don't think normal waitresses would believe that story _that_easily. I carefully watched the waitress as she sauntered back to put my order in.

As another waiter passed by, I asked him, "Can I get a glass of water please?"

"Okay. I'll be right back, young lad." He spoke with a slight Scottish accent.

Within a minute, the waiter came back with a glass of water. "Here, you are."

"Thank you." Mom's politeness is really helpful to inherit. I splashed some of the water onto my face and my senses sharpened. _So this actually works_, I thought. The water, plus my ADHD helped my senses to sharpen to see what was going on around me. The waitress who took my order was serving others, getting seemingly close to the men at the bar. There was something about the way she talked that reminded me of something that I forgot what it was called. It was a complicated word that only nerds would know.

For a second, I thought I saw a donkey leg come up from underneath the waitress, but when I blinked, it was back to normal. _Maybe I'm starting to hallucinate._

Then, I looked forward. All that was in front of me were families eating together, talking and laughing. Nothing looked odd there, but it sadly reminded me of the time my mom and I would eat cookies together and talk about Greek mythology...which was not mythological whatsoever. In fact, we did that yesterday, just before Zeus killed my mother indirectly.

"Here are your burger and fries. And the milkshake. Have a good meal, Perseus Jackson." The waitress walked away, swaying her hips.

I froze for a second. _How did that lady know my name? _I quickly scanned the restaurant again. There were still many families eating lunch, laughing with each other and having polite conversations. There were still men at the bar, drinking alcohol and telling each other stories about their past. The waiters and waitresses were walking around serving the tables, giving them their bills or their food.

I looked down at my burger and poked it. I could sense that something wasn't right, but as to what, I had no clue. I lifted the top bun of the burger and sniffed the cheese and pickles. Then I lifted the patty and looked at the sauce under it. Everything was fine. The burger looked normal to me. I opened the cover of my milkshake to see if there was anything weird in there, but there was nothing. It was just a regular milkshake.

_Okay, I'm just going crazy. I have to stop worrying about things like this_, I thought. Yep, I was definitely going crazy.

I sighed and hesitantly took a bite of the burger. It tasted normal to me. The savory goodness of the cheese was melting in my mouth, like the butter of my mom's homemade cookies. I hummed in content, munching on my cheeseburger like I hadn't had food in days. I ate some fries and drank a sip of my milkshake. Then I waited for a couple of minutes for any side effects or some super mutant growth mix to take action. Needless to say, nothing happened, so I went back to eating my food happily.

I kept scanning the restaurant to make sure that nothing weird was happening around me. Every time I checked, I would get the same picture. Families eating together, servers serving food and guys at the bar drinking. Oddly, one of the younger guys was slumped on the table as if he was sleeping. The weirdest part: no one paid attention to him. The guy next to him slammed his mug onto the table right next to the guy's face, which probably should've woken the young man up. But nothing happened.

I was halfway done my burger when I noticed some marks on the sleeping guy's neck. I peered closer and nearly dropped all of the food in my mouth onto my lap. There were two bite marks there, like large fangs had bit him.

My brain, slowly processing, started figuring something out. That young man was one of the guys who was closest to the waitress who served me my burger, fries and milkshake.

_Donkey leg_, a voice whispered in my head. The image of the donkey leg coming up from underneath the waitress flashed in my eyes.

_Stupid donkey leg_, I thought angrily. _I'm trying to figure things out. Don't interrupt!_

I stared back at the waitress who kept eyeing me as if I were her cheeseburger. It was getting really creepy, and I was thankful for the woman who gained the attention of the whole diner.

"Look at that black poodle! It's trying to cross the road!" she cried.

Heads turned and people gasped.

People started muttering things.

"Poor dog!"

"Call the ASPCA!"

"Watch out for the cars!"

If it was actually a black poodle, I probably would've said the same thing. But there was no luck that day. What the woman had pointed out to be a black poodle was actually a black hound the size of a fully grown grizzly bear, with a lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers.

To be honest, at the time I was new to the whole Greek gods and monsters thing so all I did was watch as the hound charged through traffic toward the diner.

The first car was flipped by the black hound and it did a three-sixty spin in the air before slamming into the building across the street.

The people in the diner became more frantic.

The hound had trashed two more cars before it had a home stretch to the diner. Then, turning around the corner to the left side of the street (in my viewpoint), a car zoomed toward the black dog. As it saw the hound...or maybe the "black poodle," the driver of the car swerved right, his right, and hit the curb.

In my perspective, the driver swerved left and was smashed toward the diner by the massive hound's shoulder. I just had enough time to react and I dove out of the booth as the car came crashing through the window, sailing over my head. Thankfully, the tables in the middle of the restaurant were all empty otherwise there would've been some casualties.

The hound jumped through the hole that the car made and howled. It's lava-red eyes glared at me and it bared its fangs.

"You're late," a voice called from behind me. I spun around to see the waitress walking toward me, except that she wasn't exactly the waitress I saw before. Now, the girl's skin was extremely pale and she had fangs, like a vampire.

"You're a vampire!" I exclaimed. Then I looked down to her legs and stared with wide eyes. She had a donkey leg and a metal leg.

"Yes," she snapped, "I have a donkey leg and a bronze leg. Heroes rarely have manners these days. But, no. I am not a vampire. Those silly legends were based on us. I am an _empousa_, a servant of Hecate."

That name stirred a small memory in my head. "Hecate," I murmured, "Goddess of Magic, Sorcery-"

"Witchcraft and necromancy," the _empousa_ finished. The hellhound started to move closer to me, but the _empousa_snapped angrily at the beast. "You can have the carcass." She turned to me with a cruel smile. "I prefer the blood of young men, like him." She pointed to the "sleeping" young man who had two piercing marks in his neck.

"No!" I cried. "Go away." I backed up slowly and tripped on my own feet, falling down to my butt and probably bruising it.

"Come on, Percy. You know you want family," she purred.

I used my feet and hands to crawl backwards, to the wall behind me. I don't know what the other people in the restaurant saw, but I had the feeling that it looked pretty bad because a lot of them were shaking in fear. Basically, like I was.

The _empousa_walked slowly toward me.

"So Hecate is backing up Zeus and Hades? She wants to kill me, too?" I asked, trying to act as brave as a seven year old child can be.

The _empousa_let out a short bark of laughter, which was kind of weird because she wasn't a dog. "You have much to learn, young hero. Hecate isn't following orders from Zeus. Your tiny brain wouldn't be able to comprehend what horror our new lord can unleash upon this world. You are just...how do mortals say it...oh, yes! You are just a "grain of sand" in this world. You won't understand what is about to come in the future. But at the same time, you are dangerous to our great lord. You must be killed. Zeus and Hades are correct about that-"

The hound growled.

"Be patient!" the _empousa_snapped back. She turned to me. "Hellhounds these days."

I stared at the massive hound and pretty much rolled up into a ball.

"Don't be afraid," the _empousa_said soothingly. "Let's just be family."

She leaned closer toward me.

"Go away!" I shouted, while covering my face with an arm. I could sense the _empousa_getting closer to my neck. "Go away!"

"Don't be afraid," she whispered.

"GO AWAY!" My left arm cut through the air in front of me and I heard a creaking and groaning. The _empousa_jumped back a little, looking around for anything bad about to happen. The creaking and groaning stopped and all was quiet for a couple of seconds.

"Well," the _empousa_smiled. "If nothing is going to happen, why don't we-"

The water pipes burst. Water exploded from the wall and slammed into the _empousa_, sending her flying across the room. She hit her head against the concrete wall and was knocking unconscious.

Then, under the hellhound, a blast of water erupted like a fountain, drenching the monster in the wet water. It howled and growled as it tried fighting against the water, losing the battle.

I stared at the hellhound for a second. I had to admit, that was cool. But it wasn't me. I didn't feel that tugging sensation in my gut like when I made the pipes creak and groan. It was my father.

I snapped out of my shock and sprinted to my booth. My small duffel bag was not damaged at all as the car sailed over it when it crashed into the diner. I jumped up onto the seat of the booth and grabbed my bag. Using the top of the backrest as my push off item. I somersaulted through the window and landed on my feet outside of the diner.

I quickly scanned both directions. To my left, I could head deeper into the city and make lose the hellhound through buildings. To my right, I could head toward Gravesend Bay and fight the monster near water. Even for a seven year old, I could easily tell which was the better option.

I sprinted to my right, toward the water. I was nine hundred feet down the road when I heard the ear-piercing howl. I glanced over my shoulder and saw a speck of black moving toward me. The hellhound finally escaped the water bath my father created for it.

I turned my head back to the front and saw that I was nearing the water. Although I had an enormous lead on the hellhound, having a hellhound catch up to a seven year old within nine hundred feet was pretty easy.

As the hellhound got closer to me, I felt the ground shake and rumble underneath me. Weirdly, I didn't feel a thing. I was never off balance. I was fifty feet from the water when the hellhound jumped over me and landed at the edge of the street. It snarled at me and slowly approached me.

I backed up at about the same pace. Ten steps in, the hellhound lunged at me. Instinctively, I rolled to the side, but it's claw caught me on my left arm. There were four deep gashes in which blood was seeping out.

I screamed, but didn't collapse to the ground. It was as if the ocean air was helping me stay strong. The hellhound snarled once again.

_Uncap it and it will keep you safe from the monsters!_my mom said.

My right hand pulled the ballpoint pen out of my pocket, and as stupid as the advice sounded, I uncapped the pen.

Out of the pen, sprung a gleaming sword blade, the same color as the _empousa_'s leg which was bronze.

The hellhound's snarling faltered when the blade appeared in my hand.

I quickly glanced behind me to the water. It looked deep enough to dive in. So, I spun around and cannonballed into Gravesend Bay.

As soon as I made contact with the water, I felt as if I'd just eaten a whole bag of candy from my mom's candy shop.

The thoughts of my mom were saddening, but I had a hellhound to kill. Then, I realized something. I forgot to hold my breath. I started panicking and worrying about how water was going to flood in my lungs, and I completely forgot that I was breathing normally as if I had gills. It took me a couple of seconds to calm down. When I did, I prayed to my father to shoot me back up to dry land.

Unprepared to be shot up while praying, I screamed as I felt the water push me out of the water. However, I still managed to land on my feet. The hellhound was still there, looking slightly scared now.

I glanced back down at my arm and found the sleeve of my hoodie there. Bewildered, I pulled up the sleeve of my hoodie and saw that my arm was healed. There were no scars or blood there, at all.

I stared at the water gratefully and almost got sliced to pieces by the hellhound. I just ducked in time and the hound only made a shallow cut on my cheek.

_Roll and thrust. Duck and hack_, the voice in my head said. And I did just that. I rolled to my right and thrust my sword at the hellhound. I stabbed it's shoulder. I tore the sword out of the monster and ducked just as it swiped at me. I didn't know what hack meant, but I swung my sword like a baseball bat. The hellhound burst into golden dust in front of me.

I smiled and opened my duffel bag. I didn't feel like drinking salt water, so I took out a water bottle. Just as I was about to drink it, the apple juice caught my eye. There was something sticking out from beneath the bottles.

I pulled it out and read it.

_Nectar - drink of the gods. Demigods can drink this as well to heal themselves, but not too much unless they want to burn up._

_Be careful with this, son._

I picked up a bottle of the nectar and examined it. It still looked like apple juice to me. I shrugged and put the water bottle back. I took a sip of the nectar, and I was shocked. Nectar was nothing like apple juice. Nectar tasted like my mom's homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies, except in liquid form.

I sighed as pleasure coursed through my body. I felt the cut on my cheek close up and return back to normal.

If my mom's stories were right, the other food should be ambrosia.

I pulled the piece of paper out from underneath the bag of cubed pudding. Sure enough, it read:

_Ambrosia - food of the gods. Demigods can eat one cube to heal themselves. More than two will burn a demigod up._

_This is your supply for this year, son. Use it wisely._

I nodded to myself. I placed the bottle of nectar back and zipped my bag. I got up and dusted my pants off.

I don't know if anyone heard it, but I could hear a faint and familiar sound. And it was coming from the ocean. I looked to the right and saw a rocky beach that led to the water.

Advice, never go to New York for beaches. Montauk is the best beach in New York State, in my opinion.

When I arrived at the water, the faint noise grew louder. Somehow, even though I'd never heard one before, I recognized the horn as a conch shell. It was like the calling of the sea.

I waited until the sound of the horn disappeared.

I frowned and stepped closer to the water. That was when I heard an all-too-familiar voice behind me. "Hello, Percy."

I spun around to find a tall man watching me curiously. He had a neatly trimmed beard, sea-green eyes, and raven black hair. There were many crinkles around his eyes, which showed he smiled a lot. Covering most of his head was a battered cap decorated with fishing lures that said "NEPTUNE'S LUCKY FISHING HAT." He wore a Hawaiian shirt decorated with coconuts and coconut trees, khaki Bermuda shorts and leather sandals. Despite the fact that his face looked weary, he still looked handsome. _I guess all gods give off that aura_, I thought.

Then came the man's aura. Like my mom said, he was tall and powerful, yet gentle at the same time. He stood strong and proud, but despite his muscular build he gave off that comforting aura of gentleness. His face was weary and sad and almost pitying.

All in all, I looked like a younger version of my father.

"Dad."

* * *

**Hey everyone,**

**This is just an experiment. It is probably going to suck. ****I know, it has been done before, bla, bla, bla...** But I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing.

**Question of the Chapter: Should Percy train by himself until he is twelve, or start making his way to camp right away?**

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the following story.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	3. The Turning Tide

**Hey everyone,**

**If you haven't already, please vote on my poll to see who Percy gets to "meet." Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thanks to those who reviewed in the previous chapter:  
****AbigailPaine, Son of Erebus god of Shadows, Bartimaeus12, percy jackson or seaweed brain, GrayTheBlueJay, sam, smartsoccerstar, XxThisMyFriendIsAPenxX, jesse1212, Toby860, Maylona. , Guest & mad 4 the doctor.**

**I would also like to ask people to give me ideas for what Percy can do to kill five years of his life. For example, one person reviewed and said to have him wander west and possibly running into Camp Jupiter. Another person reviewed and said to have Percy train by himself for five years, but go around fighting monsters in a similar way the Hunters would except by himself. Don't forget that Percy is only seven in this story so he won't attract tons of monsters and he won't be overpowered...at least I'll try not to make him overpowered. Send me ideas like this.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Percy 3**

**The Turning Tide**

"Percy."

My father and I stared at each other for a minute. Sea-green into sea-green.

Those eyes of his swirled with anxiety, sadness and pride. They were ever-changing, not staying the same for more than a second. His eyes were just like the sea; they were restless, always moving and unconstricted. They kind of reminded me of...me.

There was no clear or even a trace of a smile on his face, but just by his mood, I could tell he wasn't always as serious as he was now.

I bowed to my father. "Hello, Poseidon."

He gave me a faint smile. "No need to be formal, Percy. No bowing."

I relaxed slightly and stared out onto Gravesend Bay. The water looked rough, as if my father was angry at something. The waves pounded against the rocky shore of the beach.

"It's Zeus," Poseidon said, as if reading my thoughts. "Because of his outrageous actions, all the gods know of my betrayal of the oath."

"The one where you swore to never have kids," I said.

He nodded. "I believe you saw the scene where I was arguing with him. I mentioned something about his daughter."

I scrunched my face up in concentration. I don't know whether it was the ADHD or the adrenaline of killing a hellhound that messed up my thoughts, but I couldn't remember.

"He is very lucky. Zeus agreed to shut up more on the matter as long as I refrain from exposing his daughter, who is growing up somewhere else. I believe it is called blackmail."

I vaguely remembered that word from some place in the past when my mom mentioned it. "I thought mom said that was a bad thing to do?"

"Yes," sighed Poseidon wistfully, "Sally always liked doing the nicest thing. Unless it was absolutely necessary. Then she would consider doing more harmful things."

I nodded along with my father. It was very true. Mom tried to be the nicest person she could be. I never even heard her say anything bad to Smelly Gabe. Even when he forced her to do the laundry, or make him meatloaf. She was the nicest person I have ever met, and now she's dead.

I looked out at the water. The thoughts of Smelly Gabe resurfaced and I glared at the water. I remembered the time he gave me a black eye after I refused to clean up his beer cans. I remembered the time when he knocked me out with an empty beer can after I spat on his face.

The water in front of me bubbled and gurgled.

"Hmm, impressive," Poseidon mused. "Theseus and Orion couldn't do that until they were fully trained. But, then again, you are nothing like them. Theseus was only one-quarter god, and Orion could only walk on water."

It felt kind of weird having your father compare you to two of your famous half-brothers, but the compliment did kind of boost my spirits. I got the feeling that compliments from gods rarely came.

Poseidon turned to me. "Do you have the sword?"

I pulled the pen out of my pocket. Then I noticed something that I hadn't noticed before. There were Greek letters inscribed on the side of the pen. The Greek letters shimmered once again.

"It's name is Anaklusmos," Poseidon said. "Or in English-"

This time I didn't need to wait for the letters to refocus. "Riptide." Greek came easily for me, as if it were my first language rather than English.

Poseidon nodded. "Monsters all come from Hades' realm, usually from Tartarus. Unlike the temporary truce I have with Zeus, I have no leverage on Hades. He will try to send monsters after you to capture, abduct or kill you. Persephone will do her best to try and protect you during the summer months, but during winter is when you have to be alert and aware. It is starting next month, September, in which Persephone is free from Hades' realm and she will be unable to help you until March of next year."

"So, you're saying one of my uncles will be out to kill me for the next six months," I shortened.

Poseidon smiled. "Blunt and straight to the point. Good, I am not a fan of being formal."

His facial expression didn't change, but he looked less strained to try to use more formal wording in his language.

"Basically, what I'm saying is that you need to train. The camp is not safe. When they find out who you are, you won't get the proper training that you need in order to survive," he said.

"Wait, what camp?"

"I know this is going to be difficult," said Poseidon, "but the camp will restrict you. Once you get the proper amount of training, you will be free to head to camp and meet new friends there."

"Wait, what camp?!"

"Forget I said anything about camp," he replied. "The point is, you need training, but I cannot take you down to my palace. Amphitrite and Triton will try to either kick you out, or kill you which would be very unpleasant for both you and me."

My eyes widened at the idea of getting killed by my stepmother and stepbrother.

"But I must ask you, would you rather train for a few years straight or take on challenges every once in a while?" Poseidon asked curiously.

I was still staring wide eyed at my father.

"Um..." I looked down at the water. A lady was frantically waving at Poseidon, as if warning him about something.

My dad sighed. "I'm sorry, son. Amphitrite will be waiting. Unfortunately, I cannot speak to you in person very often. I will try to visit at least once a year, but remember that I will always be with you. Right here." He pointed to my heart.

I couldn't stop myself from wincing. Those were the last words that my mom had said to me before she died. But gods couldn't die, could they?

Poseidon walked until he was waist deep in the water. He turned around and waved at me. I waved back and called out, "Challenges!"

He frowned at me for a second before understanding what I was talking about.

"Happy birthday, Percy." With a snap of his fingers, Poseidon dissolved into an ocean mist.

I was in temporary shock. He was right. Today was my birthday, August 18th. I kicked a rock and watched as it bounced into the water. My mother died and the next day was my birthday. How bad could my luck possibly be?

I was about to yell at the water to ask for another present when I realized that Poseidon had sent me the bag full of supplies that morning. If all of the talk about the gods not being able to have contact with their children was true, it was the best birthday present I could have asked for. Another present was Poseidon himself. My father came back on my birthday to help keep me safe from harm. But, I also felt angry. My dad just _had_ to show up on my first birthday without my mom. He hadn't even made contact with me for _seven years_, and now he just decides to show up.

The water pounded harder on the shore.

I sighed as I stood there for a few more minutes, thinking about my conflicted emotions. The lapping waves of the water receded slightly, but still had that slight agitated tension to it. Suddenly, I felt the smell of salt die down a bit, which was weird because I didn't even realize that my dad emitted a salty ocean breeze wherever he was.

As I stood there for what seemed like an eternity, I felt the waves lapping at a steady pace, washing over the rocks and emphasizing the sound of nature.

* * *

I tossed the sticks into the fire, allowing it to grow in light and heat. A small trail of smoke rose in the air as the fire grew slowly. The flames were crackling and orange. I sighed deeply as I lay on my back staring into the dark black sky.

There were no stars visible, but I wasn't sure why. I mean, I knew about global warming, but how could you not see the stars anymore.

I was in Marine Park, a public park in East Brooklyn. Although it was a public park, I hid in the jungle of trees on the south side of the park. They were just wide enough to have a small camping ground, but tight enough to hide me from patrolling officers. The main issue I have is to not start a fire.

_Challenges!_

I wondered what challenges Poseidon could have had in store for me? And what was that camp that he had mentioned?

I turned my head to the right and stared into the crackling fire. So, Hestia is the goddess of the hearth. In the legends, they said she did not like fighting and preferred peace, but she surrendered her spot on the Olympian Council so that Dionysus could have a seat.

Personally, I thought that was very kind of her.

I looked down to the pack of fruit that I bought from the local supermarket. It consisted of bananas, grapes, apples and oranges. I, personally, was a terrible cook and...that's the reason why I didn't purchase any meat or cookable foods.

I took a banana and unpeeled it. I was about to take a bite when my eye wandered to the fire. In the fire, was a faint image, but an image nevertheless.

There was a boy who looked slightly older than me inside a nice warm cozy house. The house seemed nice enough, with statues of unrecognizable things sitting everywhere and a decent looking kitchen table.

I wasn't exactly sure why, but the boy was trembling in fear.

There was no sound, but I could sense that there was some disturbing force in front of him. What shocked me the most was that when the figure appeared, it was just a woman. She was probably his mom.

She seemed to be offering the boy something, but the boy refused. His eyes were wide and he was backing up. I looked at what the woman was offering, and saw a burnt cookie. I frowned. _Why would someone offer their son a burnt cookie?_

The woman suddenly stopped and stood upright. Her eyes slowly changed from the previously cloudy look, and started glowing green. _No wonder that kid is afraid of his mom._

She grabbed onto his shoulders and gripped him tight. He tried squirming out of her grasp, but she had a strong grip on his shoulders. She spoke to him and seemed to have a seizure. After a couple of seconds, she let go and tried to hug the empty air.

The boy slowly crept away up to his room. Then, the fire flashed and an image was frozen in it. There was the boy, who looked about nine, with sandy-blonde hair and blue eyes. His nose was upturned and looked mischievous. He looked sort of like me. Scrawny, but strong enough to kill a monster.

I was certain that this was another demigod, but as to whom, I don't know.

The image slowly faded out and I was left with a dying fire, and my small duffel bag.

After a few more minutes of near-silence, I looked back at my fruit. The fruit couldn't last for much longer without being in the fridge, aside from the bananas. My mom always told me that if fruit is not kept in the fridge, they would eventually grow mold. I didn't want to eat moldy fruit. I had bought thirty dollars worth of the fruit, which was a lot, and I didn't think I could finish all of the fruit within a week. Anyone would get tired of eating fruit for every single meal.

I locked my gaze back onto the fire as I chewed on my banana. When I got midway through the banana, I froze. _Why did I buy fruit? I could've bought canned stuff and maybe even bread._

"Ugh," I groaned. "I'm so stupid."

I slapped my forehead and ate the rest of my banana. When I finished, I looked around for a good place to throw the peel. There were spots under bushes and under trees, but it would take a while to decompose. I definitely didn't want fruit flies invading my temporary campsite. That left two options.

1. Throw it in the fire.  
2. Throw it in my duffel bag.

I also realized that if I threw it in my duffel bag, I'd still attract fruit flies, except they'd be attacking my bag rather than the entire area. I frowned. I wasn't exactly fond of the idea of burning the banana peel, but there was no other option.

I tossed the peel into the fire and watched as the fire consumed it. The fire grew slightly and more smoke rose from it. I sniffed the smoke experimentally, and I didn't gag.

At first, it smelled like bananas. But then more smells came from the smoke. There was hot chocolate, and hot fudge-brownies. Then I smelled my mom's wonderful chocolate-chip cookies. I sighed wistfully, already missing my mother.

After a few more seconds of thinking of my mother, I turned my head back to the fire. The smoke had smelled like bananas, and hot chocolate, and brownies, and cookies. A faint memory stirred in my mind.

_...and then they would sacrifice the food to the gods_, my mom said. It was recent, at

I munched on a cookie. _Why, mom? Why do they sacrifice the food?_

_It's out of respect, Percy. The gods were powerful beings who needed to be respected. The Ancient Greeks believed that if you did not sacrifice to the gods, Tyche wouldn't be on your side throughout your life, and Hades would send you to the Fields of Punishment or Tartarus_, my mom explained.

My eyes went as wide as saucers. _Mommy! We have to burn the cookies!_

I ran to the kitchen and looked around frantically. My mom followed behind me, chuckling. She reached into the top cabinet and brought out a lighter. She went to the fireplace and brought the plate of cookies.

_This is how you do it, Percy_, my mom said. She grabbed the lighter and lit the wood in the fireplace on fire. Then she grabbed a cookie and threw it into the fire. _Poseidon_, she muttered.

The same wonderful smell had came into the air of the apartment, overpowering the stench of Gabe's stuff.

_Try it,_my mom said.

_The gods_, I muttered. And I threw the cookie into the fireplace.

After that, I took some of Gabe's poker chips and threw them into the fire as a sacrifice. Smelly Gabe still hadn't figured out what happened.

* * *

I smiled fondly at the wonderful memory of burning Smelly Gabe's poker chips. I don't exactly know how, but the poker chips had burned quickly...too quickly than normal. Before today, I would've been puzzled as to why it did that, but now I knew. It was because of the gods. I hoped Hermes and Dionysus liked their gift.

I took half of the supplies of fruit and threw them bit by bit into the fire. "To the gods," I muttered. More of the wonderful smell came into the air and the sky rumbled, as if the sacrifice was nice.

It took a couple of minutes, but I finally got rid of half of the fruit. _This is definitely better than eating the fruits_, I thought. The heavenly smell not only filled my nostrils, but also my lungs. To add on to that, the smell also seemed to fill my stomach and got rid of my hunger. I enjoyed the smell as long as I possibly could, knowing that I only had fifty dollars left. At the most, it would last another week, but I had to last the rest of the year. _Oh well, I'll worry about it in a week._

I sighed and flopped onto the ground once again. I sadly thought about my mother again and all that she did. She told me all about the gods, behaved so well, and sacrificed to the gods, yet she didn't have any luck whatsoever.

Tyche wasn't on her side. Her parents had died when she was young. Her uncle died when she was in her senior year of high school. She met my father, who was the god of the seas, and helped him break the oath. She had a troubled kid, also known as me, and married that disgusting pig, Gabe. And now, she's dead.

I may have been a male, but I totally agreed with Artemis on the fact that men were horrible. My mother told me the stories about Artemis second most after the Poseidon stories. My mom raised me to treat women right, and that's what I'd try to do. I personally think that Jason was very rude to dump Medea like that.

_I wonder where my mom is, right now,_I thought.

My face bleached as I remembered that Hades was the lord of the dead. He hated me, which also meant he hated Poseidon and my mom, which also meant that he had control over where she went in her afterlife.

My face scrunched up in a scowl. It is uncommonly cruel for a seven year old to have certain thoughts about death, but then again, in the day and a half that I've known that I was a demigod, I'm not just any seven year old.

I felt a shift in the mood of the waters around Marine Park and felt the waves get more restless.

If Hades put my mom in Tartarus or the Fields of Punishment...

I pulled the pen from my pocket and looked at the inscription again. _Anaklusmos, Riptide._From now on, I'm no longer the scrawny little kid who gets bullied a lot at school. From now on, the tides have turned.

Because I'm on the run.

I quickly destroyed the fire and with it, the smell of food. But as the light shut off around me, I finally felt content to sleep without rest as the waves lapped against the shore to the south.

* * *

**The first glimpse of Luke. What is going to happen? Did May Castellan have visions of Luke hosting Kronos? Or will it be someone else?**

**Hey everyone,**

**This is just an experiment. It is probably going to suck. ****I know, it has been done before, bla, bla, bla...** But I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing.

**Question of the Chapter: Where does Percy go after this?**

**Second Question of the Chapter: Luke is two years older than Percy. How old should the other characters be? (Like Connor, Travis, Katie, Clarisse etc.) How old should Thalia and Annabeth be? Oh! And Grover will be in this story too :)**

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	4. The Dreams

**Hey everyone,**

**If you haven't already, please vote on my poll to see who Percy gets to "meet." Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thanks to all who reviewed for the previous chapter:  
jesse1212, AbigailPaine, XxThisMyFriendIsAPenxX, Courting the Moon, ThaliaDaphneJackson12, Maylona. , briodeo97, smartsoccerstar & Gifted Shadows.**

**I would like to know where you want Percy to go now. I have gotten messages from people saying that he should go to Camp Jupiter. Unlike Nico, Percy is not good at keeping secrets...secret. He would reveal the Roman camp to the Greek camp easily. I'm sorry for those who wanted that. He can go anywhere (Lotus Hotel and Casino only for a couple of months otherwise he'll stop growing for too long and he won't age), meet whoever, find whatever, but he can't find the Roman camp. Sorry.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Percy 4**

**The Dreams**

Waking up and finding presents that were meant for me was become a daily tradition now. It was like every day was my birthday or something. Except this time, I got the most boring present any seven year old boy could ever wish for. I'll give you a hint as to what it was. It was large and full of letters.

If you guessed that it was a book, you're wrong. It was an encyclopedia of Greek monsters. The note attached to it was wet and damp, as if it was taken out of the water rather than being teleported.

_Hello Percy,_

_This is one last gift I can give you before I must really leave. I know what you must be thinking. 'Why did you send me a stupid book?' or 'I'd like a shield please, dad!' But this comes in handy just as much as a shield would. It has a large list of monsters and beasts that you may encontrar on your trip around the United States. It tells you many facts about it, but if I were you, I'd skip the written parts and just look at the name of the creature and the picture so that you can recognize it when you see it (don't tell Athena that I said this; I argue with her enough as it is). Plus, to make it easier for you, the entire book is in Greek so that you do not have to spend five minutes trying to decipher one line._

_Your first challenge is bookmarked with an envelope. Whenever I give you challenges, I will bookmark the enciclopedie with an envelope. Open the enciclopedie to the page that I have bookmarked and you will find what creature you will be searching for. Inside the envelope is your task, due date, and checkpoint. You should also expect that dracina and hellhounds will try to track you. You may only be seven, but your scent is strong and Hades will try to send a lot of monsters after you. Be careful._

_Happy hunting,_  
_Poseidon_

After figuring out that _encontrar_ was encounter, decipher meant figure out, and _enciclopedie_ was encyclopedia, and _dracina_ was dracaena, I placed the note to the side and opened the page to the envelope. I lifted the envelope and looked at the picture. It looked like a pig, with horns sticking out of its nose area. _Wait...not horns. Tusks._

There was a small caption underneath of the picture. It read: _Theseus slay the Crommyonian Sow in his early adventures._

So, I'd be following in my older brother's footsteps and kill the Crommyonian Sow. _What the heck is a sow?_

I read some of the large paragraph text and found my answer.

_The Crommyonian Sow (also known as the Crommyonian Boar) was a wild boar that ravaged the region of Crommyon between Magma...no, Magara and Corinth. It's modern day location is Bayou Savage-Bayou _Sauvage_ National Wildlife Refuge, Slidell, Louisiana. Closest main city: New Orleans, Louisiana_.

I nodded to myself. So far, from the information I got, I was hunting the Crommyonian Sow that was located in a town near New Orleans.

I took a deep breath and tore open the envelope. I tried to make it as clean as possible, but like usual, the envelope's seal tore into multiple pieces. I sighed as I picked up the pieces from the ground.

Before I went back to the envelope, I stretched and paced around the area a little bit. I couldn't stand sitting there, almost still, and reading things. I was more of the person who played basketball in the corner of the gymnasium.

I took in the smell of fresh oxygen coming from the trees, and the distant salty ocean breeze coming from the south. I also took in the sounds of cars honking through traffic. The sun was high in the sky, beaming down at the earth as if it found something amusing.

Eventually, I sat back down and took out the contents of the envelope. There was another note in the envelope.

"Ugh," I groaned. "I hate reading."

_The Amtrak tickets will contain information when you decide to go on the quest._

I looked at them, now, blank card only with the logo of the train company and the background.

_Your task: Find the Crommyonian Sow and kill it. Remember to take the spilled for tar before leaving to the checkpoint._

_Due date: January 1__st__._

_Checkpoint: Breakwater Park near Lake Pontchartrain._

_P.S. I recommend heading to the beach and start a small base in the seaside cabin that your mother used to bring you to. That way, you will always have a set place to retreat to if you need it._

After a couple of minutes of trying to figure out what "spilled for tar" was, I looked again and found that it said spoils of war. Even though I had no idea what that was, it made more sense and I nodded to myself. I knew which beach he was talking about. It was a the special beach where my father and my mother met. I remembered going to the beach this past June and enjoyed ice cream together. I switched my gaze over to the due date and stared at it for a while. I had approximately four months to kill a monstrous boar and return it's "spoils of war" to my father at some lake that I don't know.

I put the envelope back as the bookmark for the Crommyonian Sow and placed the encyclopedia into my duffel bag. I took a swig of water and stretched once again.

Surprisingly, the encyclopedia didn't add too much weight to the duffel bag, which seemed pretty convenient.

I stepped through the bushes and emerged on the other side, on Gerritsen Avenue. There weren't many cars on the roads today when I realized that today was a Monday and most children would be at school, and most adults would be at work. I pulled the fifty bucks from my pocket and stopped in my tracks. When I looked up, there was a convenient cab stopped near me.

I ran as fast as my little legs would run and ran up to the passenger's window and rapped on the glass. The pudgy cab driver turned his head toward me. I couldn't help but notice that his double chin moved like slime or maybe jelly. He rolled down the window and stared at me like I was a freak.

"What do you want kid?" he said. His voice was layered with weariness and annoyance. It was clear that he did not enjoy his profession.

"A ride to Montauk," I replied.

The cab driver glanced around, out the front window, the back windshield and the window behind him. "Fine. You got the money to pay for it?"

"How's fifty dollars?"

The man opened his mouth, looking like he was about to reject, but a cool breeze rippled through the area, shutting his mouth. "I'll do it," the taxi driver then said monotonously.

Without hesitation, I jumped into the back seat and buckled up. Oddly, the taxi driver moved more robotically now, as if some evil demon was possessing him and forcing him to do things that he wouldn't have done willingly. However, his double chin still jiggled around like jelly.

It was a long cab ride and I found myself staring out the window a lot. I watched as the scenery changed from the ocean to the airport. I watched as the aircraft took off and landed at a seemingly robotic fashion. On one runway, all the planes would line up and then take off, like a line of children doing one hundred meter sprints. Then, on an opposite runway, planes would land, one by one, and then peel off to the gates where the passengers would unload.

It all seemed so organized. If Zeus was the god of the skies and controlled the air and airplanes and stuff like that, I wondered how Poseidon and him were brothers. All of what Zeus controlled seemed fixated, and organized, and strict, and robotic, whereas my father's dominion was free-flowing, and wild, and chaotic, and disordered.

Although they were brothers, it seemed like they were so different. I know I haven't met Lord Zeus, but my father was a lot like the waters of the world, so I assumed that Zeus was a lot like the air surrounding the world.

The scenery of the airport disappeared behind me and became more of a suburban area with lots of houses, like where neighborhoods of friends played together in parks and at each others' houses.

We passed the Green Acres Mall that seemed so empty as the weekday consumed the "fun" hours of the people around this neighborhood.

Ten minutes later, we passed Veterans Memorial Park. I wasn't sure what it was exactly, because the only reason I knew was because my mom pointed it out to me every time we'd go to Montauk. I also knew that it wasn't a graveyard or cemetery...at least I don't think so...

It took two more hours to reach there, but we finally stopped in Montauk. I could see the old rental cabin on the south shore. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes.

"Here we are, kid," the cab driver said. "Fifty bucks."

I handed him the fifty dollars and he drove away. That's when I realized my first mistake. I had no money and was at the tip of Long Island and nowhere to go. I looked down at my duffel bag and imagined the ambrosia squares and nectar. Since the stuff was the food of the gods, I couldn't eat a whole bunch of it. In fact, I think that I could only eat two per day or something like that. I wouldn't like the feeling of burning into ashes.

I stared out at the ocean and closed my eyes. Everything around me was enhanced. I could feel the movement of the current and the waves pounding on the shore. I could hear seagulls squawking and the slight hum of nature around me. Montauk was the exact opposite of Manhattan. Manhattan was large and chaotic and noisy. It was always full of cars and pedestrians and lights and giant skyscrapers. Montauk, on the other hand, was peaceful and quiet except for the occasional car passing by. Otherwise, the only noises you could hear were the relaxing sounds of nature.

I walked down to the cabin and opened it. As soon as I swung the door open, I saw a spider dangling from its silk thread. I smiled and grabbed the spider. I put my hand on the ground and let the spider crawl away.

"Just don't bite my face off, please and thank you...Arachne's children," I called to the scuttling spider.

The spider stopped and for a second I thought it waved at me and smiled. _And the hallucinating begins once again._

I plopped onto the bed and looked around the room. Everything looked just like the way we'd left it in June.

I looked over at the spot that my mother and I shared s'mores with each other. We had sat there munching happily on them as my mom told me more stories about the past.

_Why did all of the heroes get bad endings?_I asked.

_Because they did bad things when they were alive_, my mom responded.

_What did Hercules do that was so bad?_

_He was too prideful. He boasted on his every deed and gloated in the face of others. He proclaimed that he was the mightiest and strongest, but the personality is what counts most about a person. It doesn't matter if he or she is strong or not. It matters about how he or she treated others_, she explained.

_What about the others?_I asked.

_Jason gained the help and trust of Medea. Jason swore to Medea and Hera that he would marry her after he obtained the Golden Fleece, but in the future he abandoned her and Hera turned on him. Jason had blamed Aphrodite for making Medea fall in love with her, but Jason, being a mortal, didn't have a godly parent to help him and he died unhappy and lonely. He was killed when the rotting Argo collapsed on him as he was sleeping under it_.

_Why are all of these stories so sad?_I had complained.

_That's just the way life is_, my mom replied, all-knowingly.

* * *

And now I was one of those heroes. Theseus, Jason, Hercules, and Orion all had unfortunate endings. The only one with a happy ending was Perseus and that's why my mom named me after him, hoping I'd get good luck like him.

But the way my life was going right now, my luck was probably worse than all of the ancient heroes put together. I was beaten up by my horrid stepfather, my mother was killed, I was bullied in school for having dyslexia, my two uncles wanted to kill me, although one couldn't because my dad _blackmailed_him, I was an illegal child and wanted by all of Olympus probably and my entire world was falling apart.

I was so tired, that at seven in the evening, I fell asleep having my first demigods nightmares of my life.

* * *

There was a dark alley, just like the one that I had slept in the night after my mom died. There was a figure in the shadows, hidden so that I couldn't see his face. I could see the figure's head peer around, seemingly looking for something.

A growl echoed around the dark alley.

"Who's there?" the figure cried.

There was a low rumbling noise, but not the kind like an earthquake. It sounded a lot like a monster or something.

"Gods damn it!" the figure cursed. He sprinted out of the alley and I finally noticed that he was hidden behind a department store. Mannequins stood, posing in the window with clothing on. It was the women's section as there was a dress on all of them. Unless this was an alternate universe where all men wore dresses all the time.

My dream self turned back to the figure and I mentally gasped. It was the same blonde-haired boy I saw in the fire the previous night. This time, his face was sweaty and dirty. He looked like he'd walked or run from Bridgeport, Connecticut.

His sandy-blonde hair was full of dirt and mud. Twigs stuck out from the side of his head which kind of made him look like a deer with two broken antlers.

Although he cursed and talked normally, his chest heaved up and down, as if the effort of breathing was hard to do. His mouth was slightly parted to allow air to travel quickly into his lungs and be pumped back out. His blue eyes darted back and forth, seemingly anticipating an attack from a monster. Unlike the photo that I saw the previous night, his eyes were droopy. He didn't have bags yet, but I could tell that if he continued going on the run he would eventually develop bags under his eyes.

"Stupid Hermes," he muttered. "Why couldn't he help me when she wasn't crazy?" He went back into the dark of the alley and dropped to the ground.

The shadows covered his face as if Hades was eating him. I wondered why he would call Hermes stupid. Maybe Hermes was his dad. _Oh who am I kidding. Of course Hermes is the kid's dad_, my dream self thought.

His eyes started to close and I took this time to analyze his body. He looked like he hadn't eaten in days. I remembered the crazy lady in the fire last night. It was probably because of her. No one would ever want to eat burnt cookies, would they?

"Why couldn't he help me when she wasn't crazy?" he said, his voice becoming drowsier. He eyes finally closed and all was peaceful for a few moments.

The lights of the parking lot shined down on the empty concrete illuminating the parking stalls in the dark. The only thing that could be heard were a few cars passing by, but I doubt that they would have seen the boy sleeping in the shadows. The cool wind whistled through the alley hardly making any noise.

After a few more seconds, a dull _clunk_was heard. The boy's eyes shot open and in a flash, he was up with a sword in his right hand. Those blue eyes darted around again, waiting for any more noise.

Again for a few seconds there was silence. But instead of a dull _clunk_, a lady appeared in my vision, charging at the boy.

I was so startled by her sudden appearance that I didn't notice her exact look until I looked closely. She was definitely a humanoid creature and she would've looked beautiful, had she not have two twin serpent trunks for legs.

She slithered up to the boy. "Luke Casssstellan." She hissed some more at him.

"W-What do you want?" Luke stuttered. He pointed the point of his sword at the monster.

"I have been in Tartarussssss for sssssso long. I would love to kill sssssome demigodssss before I get sssssent back. And you're my firsssst target!" She lunged at Luke, carefully avoiding the sword.

Before Luke struck the monster in the neck, she made a cut on his left shoulder. As the sword made contact with the monster's neck, he screamed in pain. But it was too late for the serpent-lady. She hissed and dissolved into a golden dust, like the hellhound had when I killed it.

Luke clutched his shoulder in agony as the wind blew the golden dust away into the dark night.

"Dad! Hermes! Just one piece of ambrosia! Please!" he yelled at the sky. Nothing happened. "Fine! Be that way! Thanks for being there for me."

The cut was nothing serious, but for some weird reason, smaller cuts hurt more than larger cuts, so Luke winced every time his left shoulder moved in the slightest bit.

The dream slowly faded as I saw Luke hiding in the shadows and hiding from monsters. His eyes closed and so did the dream.

* * *

I thought it was going to end there, but apparently the gods had a lot to tell me tonight because another unfamiliar scene appeared before me.

"Spread out at my feet was a bowl-shaped valley several miles wide. The basin floor was rumpled with smaller hills, golden plains, and stretches of forest. A small clear river cut a winding course from a lake in the center and around the perimeter, like a capital G. The geography could've been anywhere in northern California—live oaks and eucalyptus trees, gold hills and blue skies. That big inland mountain—what was it called, Mount Diablo?—rose in the distance, right where it should be. But something about this place made me feel uneasy. I'd never been to California and had only seen a few pictures, but this place seemed unnatural and somewhat magical.

In the center of the valley, nestled by the lake, was a small city of white marble buildings with red-tiled roofs. Some had domes and columned porches, like national monuments. Others looked like palaces, with golden doors and large gardens. He could see an open plaza with free standing columns, fountains, and statues. A five-story-tall Roman coliseum gleamed in the sun, next to a long oval arena like a racetrack. Across the lake to the south, another hill was dotted with even more impressive buildings. _Temples_, I guessed. Several stone bridges crossed the river as it wound through the valley, and in the north, a long line of brickwork arches stretched from the hills into the town. I thought it looked like an elevated train track. Then I realized it must have been a water pipeline. The strangest part of the valley was right below me. About two hundred yards away, just across the river, was some sort of military encampment. It was about a quarter mile square, with earthen ramparts on all four sides, the tops lined with sharpened spikes. Outside the walls ran a dry moat, also studded with spikes.

Wooden watchtowers rose at each corner, manned by sentries with oversized, mounted crossbows. Purple banners hung from the towers. A wide gateway opened on the far side of camp, leading toward the city. A narrower gate stood closed on the riverbank side. Inside, the fortress bustled with activity: dozens of kids going to and from barracks, carrying weapons, polishing armor. I heard the clank of hammers at a forge and smelled meat cooking over a fire." **(Excerpt from the Son of Neptune with changes to first person. That is why the language is more...complicated, than what a seven year old would think)**

My dream self seemed to float towards the gate. I knew these had to be demigods and I grinned. One day, I'd be going here to meet new friends and play.

Suddenly, my vision tunneled and I clutched my eyes to stop the spinning. I reopened my eyes to see the same place, except that there was a large Greek trireme floating above the city firing giant spears coated in green flames. No smoke rose in the air, but some of the marble buildings were on fire. How marble could catch fire, I didn't know, but I _did_know that the fires were large.

There was a dragon in the air, though. It was swooping down to the ground, as if it was going to pick something up. The clouds in the sky were dark and lightning crackled in the air. With a blinding flash, lightning struck. I closed my eyes and felt the noises of destroyed buildings fade.

After a few more seconds, I opened my eyes and saw a house littered with beer cans. At first, I thought it was Gabe's house and I seethed with anger. But then I saw the two people in the living room and my anger faded.

There was a man in the room. He wore a purple suit and a purple tie. Almost everything-except his shirt and shoes-that he wore was purple. He looked vaguely familiar, but unlike who I thought it was, his expression was stern and responsible. He radiated power, but not like the kind my father radiated. His power was more outgoing, as if he liked to show off that he was a powerful being.

The woman standing before him was much shorter than him, by almost a foot. She had blonde-hair that looked in between honey-blonde and sandy-blonde, and hazel eyes. There was something about her eyes, though. They were glossy and tired. I stared at the beer can in her hand.

She brought a hand up to drink it, but the man stopped her. "Don't drink. Do you know how bad you have gotten?" The man's voice was powerful and deep. As he spoke, I felt like I should obey him because he has so much power and could protect me from any harm.

"Y-you came back," she said, reaching out as if making sure the man wasn't just a vision.

"Yes. I came back because it is the boy's time," the man said.

The woman knit her eyebrows in temporary confusion. Then the realization dawned on her and she drunkenly scowled. "You can't take him. He's _my_child! I have rights as well. This is a free society. I can also drink and smoke and sleep with whoever the hell I want!" Her words were slurred and messy, but the meaning of them was clear. She was protecting her son from whoever that man was.

"He is mine as well! _She_ will not be happy. You can't hold onto him forever," the man thundered. "You _will_ go to the Wolf House and you _will_hand him over when it is time!"

"You aren't the boss of me!" she cried. "You can't tell me what to do!"

"But I know what you are doing to these children," the man roared. "You are a drunk, and you are unhealthy, and you are ruining our children's lives. They deserve better than you. They deserve to be taken care of and not to be discarded like toys. You even hit our daughter, and blamed her for my disappearance! What kind of mother are you?"

The lady stood there for a second, with a blank expression on her face. Then, she suddenly lurched forward and barfed on the floor.

_Okay, that's nasty_, I thought.

"I'm sorry, baby," the woman purred, vomit still on her lips. "Why don't you just stay for a while? Maybe you can hang out with the kids again?"

"No. I was purposely here to tell you that-"

"Daddy?" a small voice said. I turned my head toward the speaker and found a little girl about my age, looking up at her father.

She wore a shirt that said RenGe Yda **(Green Day)**, and long sweatpants. Her hair was raven-black, like mine, but her hair was spiky and stuck up like peacock feathers from the peacock's butt. Her nose was dotted with freckles and her electric blue eyes stared up to her dad.

"Hello, Thalia," the man said. Their eyes met, electric blue on electric blue. "How have you been doing?"

The girl glanced at her mother for a brief second. "I'm okay, daddy."

"Good girl. Now go back to bed. I won't be here when you wake up, but I will always be in there." He poked her where her heart was. The little girl smiled at her father. "I'll try to visit as often as I can." I noticed a slight hesitance when he said it. The girl seemed to as well. Her smile faltered, but she waved regardless. Then she trudged back up the stairs.

The man turned back to the woman. "You should at least care for your children a little bit."

"I do!"

"No, you don't. You have a deadline. Otherwise, _she_will take it out on you, and you don't want a goddess hounding you for the rest of your life."

"But-"

The man held up a hand. "It's time for them to move on. They will have to leave soon. I can't hide them forever. I didn't want to force this on you, but your terrible treatment of my children has cost you."

The woman stood there, speechless. The man strode out of the room, and went for the front door.

As a brilliant flash illuminated from the window, the woman burst into tears and sank to the floor. The woman grabbed a can of beer and popped the cap. She tried drinking it while lying down on the floor so the alcohol spilled all over the floor around her.

My dream self's eyes made their way up to the top of the stairs, where a figure hidden in the shadows was crouched. Judging by her face, she had seen all of what just happened and she briskly walked out of view, most likely to her bedroom.

I turned my eyes back to the woman on the floor who was sobbing. She barfed one last time before the dream ended.

* * *

My eyes snapped open to see a spider dangling above my eyes.

"Whoa!" My eyes widened and my hand instinctively went to protect my face. I felt a small creature drop onto the palm of my right hand.

I slowly came out of my defensive position, making sure I didn't drop the spider. When I looked at it, I found out that it was an American House Spider-or in this case, an American Cabin Spider. It was a common spider that lived in this cabin during the summer months when the cabin was warm.

I let it go roam around on the ground.

I looked at the corner where the spider was scuttling to. A spider web dangled from the top of the corner. Images of the dreams I had flashed in my mind once again and I flinched.

I thought that I had a tough life with a heartless step-father, a dead mother, and no home. But the people in my dreams had it worse. Luke had no home, no help, and no supplies. The city was being burned by green fire and people's homes were being destroyed. Thalia had a father who couldn't be there, a mother who was a drunk, irresponsible person, and a trashed home with barf and beer everywhere.

My stomach grumbled as I thought about the horrible lives that some people had that I saw in the dreams.

But I knew I was in a similar situation. I was on the run.

* * *

**The first glimpse of Thalia and Camp Jupiter. Like I said in the beginning, this is to foreshadow the Second Great Prophecy. I didn't show Jason's age because I need to modify it. If he is seven years younger than Thalia, then he'd be nine when he leads Camp Jupiter in defeating Krios at Mount Othrys (Mount Tam).**

**Hey everyone,**

**This is just an experiment. It is probably going to suck. ****I know, it has been done before, bla, bla, bla...** But I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing.

**Question of the Chapter: How old should Jason be?**

**Second Question of the Chapter: Where should Percy stay, aside from Camp J?**

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	5. The Windy City

**Hey everyone,**

**If you haven't already, please vote on my poll to see who Percy gets to "meet." Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thanks to all those who reviewed in the previous chapter:  
Bartimaeus12, Percy Waterblue, AbigailPaine, briodeo97, CourtingTheMoon, AnimeXMangaAddict, XxThisMyFriendIsAPenxX & wolfhead.**

**To answer some questions that I received, Thalia doesn't have a set age. To Percy, she looks around his age, maybe older, maybe younger. Some said that Thalia should be younger than Percy by a couple of months, some said that Thalia should be older than Percy by eight months (because her birthday is in December). And now I know what age Jason should be. Now I need Thalia's age.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Percy 5**

**The Windy City**

"Get him!"

Alarms blared and flashed. As I burst through the exit of Wal-Mart, I knocked over a couple of mortals. They grunted as they toppled to the pavement. I yelled a quick "sorry," but kept moving as fast as I could.

Security guards burst through the front entrance and quickly scanned the parking lot to try to find me. I had turned right as I exited, so the corner was further away than if I had turned left. But I wanted to head south, toward the water. I always felt safer when I was closer to water.

"There!" one of the guards yelled. I snuck a quick glance over my shoulder and saw the taller guard pointing at me. They took off after me.

I sprinted around the corner of the building in which Wal-Mart was located, huffing and puffing as I carried my sleeping bag with me. I sprinted past the gardening section where people were looking at nice looking plants. If you, the reader, were wondering how I had gotten the sleeping bag...well, it was the reason why I was being chased by security guards.

I reached the residential area and sprinted in between two random houses. There was a fence in front of me. It was one of those fences made of chains and each time the chains intersected, they crisscrossed and the space between the chains were shaped like diamonds. The diamond holes were large enough for a foothold for my feet. The fence stood up to about my chest and was rapidly gaining on me. Or maybe _I_ was gaining on _it_.

Just before I hit the fence, I tossed the sleeping bag over and put my hands out in front of me. I placed my hands on the metal pole on the top, hoisted my left leg up and placed it in one of the diamond-shaped holes halfway up the fence. I pushed up with my arms and hoisted my right leg up. My right foot stood on top of the pole and I lifted my left leg. I vaulted over the fence, landing on my feet. I stumbled slightly and tripped. My knee scraped the ground and I knew that it was bleeding. It must've been light bleeding because it didn't hurt that much.

I kept running, ducking through the alleys of houses, and cutting and scraping myself. After what seemed like forever, all sounds of the security guards ceased. I hid in a bushy plant that was planted in the front yard of a house and waited for a few minutes to see if the security guards had caught up to me yet.

When I thought it was safe, I started to move forward, out of the bush. But before I could, two men burst around the corner of the house I turned at, wearing uniforms and batons. I recognized them as the security guards.

I slowly slid back into the bush, trying to keep myself concealed.

"Come on, Jim. Let's just call the cops and tell them about a juvenile theft," the taller guard said when they reached the intersection.

"Poor kid," Jim said. "You know, we really need to help our children more. They're becoming more violent and involved in crimes at a younger age. This needs to stop."

"Do _you_know what?" the taller guy responded as they walked away. "I don't know if you ever think about this, but I always wonder why the hell you became a security guard?"

"I don't know, Al. I don't know."

Their voices faded as they walked further down the street. When all became quiet, I jumped out of the bush and brushed myself from the leaves that had fallen on me. I looked both to my left and my right, like I always did.

To my right, there was the street that I had come from and where the guards walked back. To my left, there was a dry area of land which would have looked nice, if it had been alive.

_Better wild lands than alleys_, I thought. I turned left and walked tiredly to the dry area of land. All of the leaves and trees and grass were dead, and there was pretty much no green at all. When I reached the edge of the dry area of land, I put my hand horizontally on my forehead, trying to block off the intense light of the sun that was shining down on my face. Despite covering my eyes, I still had to squint to not hurt my eyes. Like I saw before, most of the land was dry and dead, but in the distance, there was a small creek. The grass around there was greener than the dry land and trees actually stood. I looked to the left side of the dried area of land and saw another closer creek that acted like a barrier between the two neighborhoods. The only thing was that the creek was pretty narrow and people from either side could swim to the other without any problem at all. It seemed kind of like a backyard for the people who lived in the creek side houses. I shrugged and decided to go to the far creek.

I easily climbed over the half-trampled fences that lined the dry area of land. It took me four minutes to finally reach the best spot along the far creek. That is...what I thought to be the best spot along the creek. When I finally reached the creek that I picked out to be the best spot for water, I noticed the most healthy part of this area was even further forward.

I stood up to grab my duffel bag, and sleeping bag when a female voice said to my right, "Don't go there, young hero."

I turned to find a pretty girl standing with a casual look on. She didn't wear any fancy clothing, but rather, jeans and a sleeveless shirt. The shirt was a light sea-green, sort of like a lighter shade of the ocean. Her face, so much like my father's seemed timeless. She may have physically looked like a teenager, but she was probably thousands of years old.

I only came to this conclusion because she had walked out of the water without coming out soaking wet.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hi, Percy," she said.

"Do I know you?"

She smiled. "No. Of course not. But you may have heard of my sisters and I. I am a naiad, a freshwater spirit."

I remembered the woman who waved at my father the time when I first met him. "Like the woman who waved at my father?"

"Pardon? Oh, her. No, no, no. Those are my cousins, the Nereids, sea nymphs. Unlike them, however, I do not directly serve under Poseidon's court. I do help him every so often, however, if he is nice to us," the naiad said.

"Only if he is nice to you?"

"Well, he is usually nice to us, even if he cannot help clean our waters all the time. But, we must talk more. Come." She waved toward a little circle of grass surrounded by trees across the creek.

I looked down at the water, and nervously asked the naiad, "But all of my stuff is going to get wet."

"Don't worry, son of the sea god. You do not get wet and anything you touch will stay dry underwater."

I realized that when I was fighting the hellhound before, so much adrenaline had pumped through my body that I didn't even realize that all of my stuff was dry after I got shot out of the water.

Experimenting, I stuck one of my sneakers into the water and pulled it out. It was completely dry. There was no signs of any liquids getting into or getting soaked into my shoe. Then I submerged into the water. At first, I held my breath, just in case I couldn't breathe properly. But when I couldn't stand it anymore, I took in a deep breath...of oxygen. I looked at myself with amazement. _What other cool powers do I have?_I felt my bag and all of my stuff and they were all dry. I even unzipped my backpack and felt all of the dry stuff inside. I know most people couldn't feel the difference between wet and dry underwater, but I could. I couldn't explain how, but I could just tell whether things were dry or not.

The naiad's voice appeared in my head. _You have time to experiment with your powers later. Even if you have already demonstrated them in the past._

I turned to look at the naiad and my jaw dropped. She looked exactly like the ladies that I saw at the bottom of the waters in Montauk.

_Yes, but those would be my cousins, the Nereids_, the naiad said again, in my head.

I looked at her, startled. It was almost as if she could read my thoughts or something.

_Actually, since you are the son of Poseidon, you can telepathically speak with other creatures of the sea or other children of Poseidon when you are underwater. Also, you are able to speak with horses and donkeys and zebras_, she said. _You will also need to learn how to control your thoughts underwater because they transmit like crazy._

I looked even further down into the creek. More naiads were swimming near the bottom, all of them stopping by to wave to me as if I were a long-lost friend...which I guess I kind of was.

_Come along, Percy_, the naiad above me said. Her form swam back up toward the edge of the creek. I followed her. I eventually broke the surface and climbed up onto the bank. The naiad broke the surface and morphed back into a teenage girl.

"See, Percy," she said out loud. "You are not wet. Not even a single drop."

I looked down and saw that she was right. I looked exactly the way I had entering the creek. I wasn't dripping water and my clothing hadn't changed tones like they would if they had become wet.

As the naiad walked to the little area of grass that was surrounded by trees, I took in the surroundings. On this side of the creek, the land was much greener compared to the empty barren land behind. There were actually trees here and leaves grew green.

The naiad stopped in the middle of the grassy circle and sat down. "Sit with me, Percy. Because I am so close to the ocean, I get to talk with the Nereids a lot. They send messages from Poseidon about what you must do. Do you have the encyclopedia and the envelope?"

I nodded and reached into my bag. I pulled out the giant encyclopedia and flipped it open to the page of the Crommyonian Sow. I opened the envelope, and laid the blank ticket and the note detailing what I needed to do.

"Oh, the Crommyonian Sow. You've got a tough monster here. Your older brother, Theseus, killed it when he was travelling to Athens back in the ancient times. But he had years of training a practicing. Your father really wants to push you." She studied the note that detailed my task, due date and checkpoint. "You're just very fortunate that you can travel quickly across the United States because it took Theseus many days just to get from his hometown to Crommyon, not to mention getting to Athens."

My geography was as bad as my math, but I did know that the United States was a large country and was almost as large as all of Europe. "Isn't Greece tiny?"

"Yes, it is." The naiad gave me a smile. "Nowadays, you can get from Theseus' hometown to Athens in just over two hours. And Greece is about the size of Louisiana. Do you know how big Louisiana is?" I shook my head. "Well," the naiad continued, "do you know how big New York State is?" I nodded. "Louisiana is smaller than that. Here check out this map."

She held her hand out and closed her eyes. Her mouth moved in a silent prayer. In a quick flash, a map appeared in her hands. She laid it out and pointed out Louisiana to me. "That's about the size of Greece. This is New York"-she pointed to New York-"and you can see how small Greece really is."

"Wow. Greece is tiny."

"Anyway, back to the task." The naiad shook her head like she was clearing water from her ears and the map disappeared. "So...you need to get the Crommyonian Sow by January 1st. That shouldn't be a problem. It's only September...what, 4th?"

"I don't know what the date is," I responded. "But I know that it's been a few weeks since my mom's death."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Well, you still have tons of time to hunt the boar. If I were you, I wouldn't go for the boar right away. That way, you can plan and strategize how to kill the boar."

"Umm." I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. "I'm not really good with all strategizing and planning."

"Hmm." The naiad rubbed her chin thoughtfully. She shrugged. "Well, just go with the flow and when you think it feels right, go for it. Good luck, Percy."

"That sounds a lot better. And thanks."

The naiad looked out to the sky. From the colors in the sky, I could tell that the sun was going down and the moon was going to rise soon.

"Well, I should go," I said. "Thanks for all of your help."

"Don't leave here," the naiad said. "Further that way is Hook Creek Wildlife Sanctuary. That place is really a place where monsters hide out and kill demigods when they come nearby. Trust me. I've seen many demigods who have gotten killed because they went near there."

I looked at the lush green forested area there and was about to call her story a whole load of bologna, but then I heard the noise. It was distant and far off, but it still had that eerie and chilled feeling to it. It was a hellhound's howl.

I shivered and turned to the naiad. "Maybe I'll stay here. Protect me?"

The naiad giggled. "Don't worry. We'll _definitely _keep an eye on you." With a wink, she twirled away and dove into the water.

* * *

That night, when I got hungry, I ate the rest of my fruit. I was actually surprised that my fruit would last this long considering that I spent the last couple of weeks travelling all the way from Montauk. The naiad came back at around seven in the evening to tell me that it was September 7th. It had been twenty-one days since my mother's death.

I unrolled the sleeping bag that I stole from Wal-Mart and lay it flat on the ground. I sat on it and I watched my small fire burn. I took a small stick and poked it for fun. Sometimes it was fun to stick a stick in the fire and let it catch on fire and then wave it around like a flag.

I was smiling intently when I heard a crashing in the bushes. My smile faded and I quickly got up. I ran to the water and scooped some up. I threw it onto the fire and watched it sizzle out. I moved my sleeping bag into the shadows and peered around a tree.

More crashing of the bushes was heard. I saw a dim light coming from somewhere in the bushes. Then I saw the top of a torch stick up out of the bushes. My eyes widened. Trees caught fire easily-_I speak from personal experience_-and if that torch got any lower, everything in this area would catch on fire.

After a few seconds, a figure burst through the bushes. He was carrying a torch in his left hand and a switchblade in his right. His eyes hysterically wandered around. I crouched even further into the shadows and he stumbled slowly to the edge of the creek.

"It's all just a dream," he said maniacally. "It's my imagination. There's no such thing as a hellhound. That's-That's Ancient Greek mythology. I'm...I'm..."

A wolf burst into the bank of the creek. It growled at the man.

"Stop calling me mortal! I know I am, but...argh!" He clutched his head and dropped to the ground. Still, the torch managed to stay off of the ground. "You're just an illusion!" The man tossed the torch into the forest. "You're fake!"

One of the trees caught on fire and though the trees grew well and were green, they were still highly flammable. Fire licked the leaves and bark of the trees, growing steadily. Now, I could see the wolf clearly. It's fur was gray and dull, even in the moonlight. It growled once again and started walking toward the man.

"How do I understand you? What does clear-sighted mean? What do you mean bring you to the son of Poseidon?" the man shot out like a rapid fire machine gun.

I froze in my hiding spot. I quickly glanced behind me. I still had a bit of time before the flames would engulf the area I was in. I turned back to the wolf and the man. I silently made my way toward the wolf, sneaking up from behind it.

The man took out a knife from his pocket. "This is steel _and_silver. Yeah, that's right. Silver. I can kill you right now if I'd like."

The wolf growled and swiped the switchblade from the man's hand. It slid along the grass right to my feet.

"That steel is mixed with silver. It can kill _mortals_ _and werewolves_, like you," the man said. "Ha. Ha-ha!" He started laughing hysterically. Then, the wolf ended the crazy man's life, then and there. The wolf used its claws to tear open the man's chest and the wolf slashed at the man's heart. He was dead within seconds. Then the wolf used its teeth to tear the man's head off.

I closed my eyes as I neared the wolf. My hands were shaking with the gruesome image of the man's torn body in front of me. I heard the wolf snarl from in front of me. I opened my eyes and found myself right behind the wolf. Time seemed to slow down for a second, my surroundings very slowly moving around me. Before I knew it, I activated the switchblade and stabbed it down into the wolf's back, right through its heart. With one last howl, it dissolved into a golden dust. Just like the hellhound, and just like the serpent-lady.

I looked back down at the horrible sight of the dead man's shredded body and immediately felt dizzy. My head started spinning like crazy and the last thing I remembered before passing out was a large _splash!_

* * *

The next morning, I thanked all of the naiads for all the help that they had given me and departed for Penn Station. Numbers appeared on the tickets and the information needed to hand in to the people at the train station were flashed into my bag. The time, the date of departure, the stations the trains would stop at, and last of all, the change of rails. The train that I was going depart in was going to leave at 3:45 in the afternoon. The current time was about 10:34 in the morning.

The naiad told me that the monsters didn't kill mortals (and that the mortal the previous night was a _special_case), and kept a hidden stash of money in the front desk.

Speaking without any experience, I still said that it was a really bad idea to hide it there. People could easily steal the money. Then again, the people managing the place were monsters, and could kill people without hesitation. The image of the torn man flashed in my eyes once again and my breath became slightly shaky.

"Good luck," the naiad said waving sadly at me.

I waved and walked into the forest. The trees and leaves were charred from the fire last night, but I assumed that the naiads put it out because there wasn't a fire there when I woke up. My sleeping bag was now folded nicely and stuffed into my duffel bag.

I ducked under a branch and came out into an open field on which a pond sat. However, there was a large building on the far side of it. It stood along the side of the road and parking lot. There were a few animals around, but minimal seeing as they had probably been eaten by the monsters. There were birds circling around the trees and a...was that a horse?

When the birds saw me, it seemed as if their eyes widened and they flew back into the trees. I kept walking toward the pond, as the naiads said the fish could give me some good advice.

When I got to the edge of the pond, I knelt down. Sure enough, I could see fish swimming in the pond. Their bodies wiggled as they swam in a circle. They looked free, yet restrained at the same time.

I took a deep breath and stuck my head underwater. I blew out, but no bubbles appeared out of my mouth. I knew I could breathe underwater, but I still stayed cautious...just in case. I breathed in and oxygen flooded into my lungs.

_Son of Poseidon_, I heard in my head. I looked down and saw all of the fish looking at me.

_Hey, guys_, I said telepathically, and nervously.

_Son of Poseidon. Do you seek for help? _one of the bigger fish asked.

_Yes. I would like that, please_, I nodded.

_Alright, lord. When you enter the front of the shop, have your weapon ready immediately because they can smell your blood_, the big fish said. _Get ready to strike. Behind the front counter, use steel to break the safe box. It is heavily worn down. Then, take the money and use the phone to call for a taxi. Then you are free from this place._

I stared at the fish in amazement. _How do you know all of that?_

_I talk a lot with that horse. The monsters breed the horses and then eat the older ones. That one out in the field gets taken care of to make sure it's grown well so that it has good meat when it grows old. He sees a lot of the stuff in there._

_Oh._I took my face out of the water and slid back in as my back was cramping up.

_We will always be ready to help you, lord. Whenever you need it, fish will come to help you,_ the fish said. _And silver is very useful_.

I nodded my thanks and swam back up to the surface. When I broke through, I saw that the horse was grazing near the edge of the pond. It's head looked up as it chewed on the grass and it immediately bowed.

_Hello, lord. _It continued to bow.

"Don't bow. Please," I said.

_As you wish, lord. _It stood up straight.

"Continue to eat the grass," I instructed. The horse obeyed. "Wish me luck on my little expedition," I whispered to myself.

_Good luck, Lord Percy_, the horse spoke in my mind.

Unsurprised, I took a deep breath and headed toward the building where there were supposed to be monsters. Like the fish said, I kept one hand in my right pocket closed around the pen called _Anaklusmos_. My heart pounded in my chest, the adrenaline starting to flow into my veins. My nervousness grew and so did the thumping of my heart.

I crept to the door and knocked on it. A silence grew over the front entrance and I pulled the pen out of my pocket. I saw the door swing open and not caring who was in front of me, I uncapped my pen and lunged forward. A shower of golden dust sprinkled all over me and I sliced through a monster. It happened too quickly for me to remember which monster it was. _Probably that hellhound I heard the previous night...or maybe that was the wolf. _A serpent-lady, like the one I had seen in my dreams, interrupted my thoughts.

"Ssson of Possseidon!" she hissed. In the room were a couple other snake ladies, equipped with bronze armor and bronze spears. "Get him!"

All four of the serpent-ladies lunged at me at the same time. Instinctively, I lurched back and two of the serpent-ladies stabbed each other. They burst into golden dust, wailing. The other two serpent-ladies, however, were still alive and approaching me quickly.

When I was young, all of my P.E. teachers said that I had really good reflexes and could react in split-second timing. It was one of the reasons why I was usually the last one in dodgeball. Another reason for that was because I was pretty good at throwing balls, even if I never practiced at all.

Facing the two remaining serpent-ladies, I rolled to the side, picked up one of the spears that the lady dropped and hurled it at the living serpent-ladies. It struck the left serpent-lady in the neck and she dissolved into more golden dust.

The last serpent-lady hissed at me and stabbed with the spear. It sliced into the back part of my left arm. Was it called triceps? Regardless, I cursed and screamed as it bit into my flesh. My left arm starting bleeding as the serpent-lady yanked the spear from my arm. I raised my sword and slashed at the serpent-lady. She blocked and swung her spear like a baseball bat at my torso. I grunted as it bruised a few of my ribs, and then hacked at the serpent-lady's neck. She exploded into the same golden dust that the previous monsters had.

I winced as I saw the deep gash on my right arm. I was no expert on tending wounds so I just took off my hoodie, wrapped the wound in one of my shirts and ate a cube of ambrosia. I felt my bruised ribs feel heal and the gash on my arm didn't hurt as much. However, my left arm felt really sore.

I hopped over the front counter and searched for the safe box. There was the cash register, a couple of drawers and then below them all, a rusted metal box sitting inside a cabinet. _Use steel to break the safe box._I looked around me. There was no steel anywhere that I could see. I frowned. I went into the back where there were empty metal cages. None of the items in the back were steel, though.

I sighed in frustration. I got up from my crouching position and heard something, a _clunk._ I turned around to see a silver switchblade-obviously deactivated-lying on the ground. I bent down to pick it up. When I touched it, I immediately remembered last night's events of the wolf, and the torn man, and the steel and silver switchblade. _Wait. Steel! _I thought.

I went back up to the front and crouched down so that I was at eye level with the top of the safe box. I pushed the button and the blade sprung open. I cut at the rust that developed in between the cracks of the box. The safe may have been code locked, but the rust that grew on the box showed that not much care was put into keeping that box safe from thieves. _I totally feel like a son of Hermes today_, I thought.

After half of a minute of hacking and cutting, the door fell off. Judging by the age and content of the box, I could tell that no had touched it in a _long_time. There was one hundred dollars worth of five dollar bills. I closed the switchblade and put it in my left pant pocket. Then, I put the cash into my right hoodie pocket.

Like the fish said, there was a phone that I could call a cab with. Fortunately, there was a phone book below it so that I would know _which_number to call. Unfortunately, I have a severe case of dyslexia. It took me almost ten minutes to find a taxi company that could send a taxi to come and pick me up. Plus, the taxi had to drive to my location which ate up another twenty minutes. When I got into the taxi, the time on the clock said 11:30 A.M.

If you've ever been to New York, you'd know that Queens and Brooklyn make Manhattan look like a dwarf in terms of land size. Manhattan may be the highlight of New York, but it is quite small. Since there was heavy traffic, it took forty minutes to get to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, and then another fifteen minutes to get to Penn Station.

All in all, the time was 12:25 P.M. when I finally got out of the cab. The taxi driver stopped the money meter from rising, and turned to me.

"That'll be $65.62, kid," he said.

I gave him seventy dollars. "Keep the extra," I said.

After he sped off, I looked at Penn Plaza. It was a large building that neighbored Madison Square Garden and Penn Plaza. The streets were packed with people heading in and out of the train station. I had three hours and twenty minutes to kill. I decided to take a nap until my train departed.

After checking my tickets, I found a seat and slept.

* * *

I was woken up by a man tapping my shoulder.

"Train's here, kid." His voice was gruff and scratchy, as if he hadn't drunk water in days.

When I looked up, the train was boarding passengers, allowing the first guests onto the train.

"I repeat, those with seniors, handicapped and young children are our first guests to board train number forty-nine on Lake Shore Limited to Chicago. I repeat, those with seniors, handicapped and young children are our first guests to board train number forty-nine on Lake Shore Limited to Chicago."

I stood up and walked toward the line. The guy letting people on the train checked my ticket. "Dylan Jackson here is travelling with Hali Jackson's permission to New Orleans to visit family... Funny family you got there kid. Hali means 'the sea' and Dylan means 'son of the sea.' Have fun on your trip with Amtrak."

By 3:45 P.M., the train departed from Penn Station.

For the next nineteen or so hours, I spent my time pacing around the train because my ADHD prevented me from sitting for any longer than five minutes. I couldn't even sit for five minutes while preoccupied.

There was a small television that broadcasted a news show all the way from New York.

"The latest story of Percy Jackson has been released by investigators all over New York. It seems as if Mr. Jackson has disappeared straight off the face of the earth. Investigators had sent out teams all over the east coast of the United States, but in these past few weeks, they had come up with nothing. The police has declared Percy Jackson to be missing. May we send our condolences to Mr. Gabriel Ugliano to his late wife and lost son," the reporter said.

I scowled in my seat when I heard that people were feeling sorry for Gabe.

After some more sleeping, I decided to read the encyclopedia to find out more information about monsters. That's right. The not-so-lost Percy Jackson, reading a book. A book!

I couldn't concentrate for too long so all I figured out was that celestial bronze-which was what my sword was made of-could only kill monsters, and would pass right through regular mortals. Then, I also learned that werewolves could not be killed my anything but silver, which was what my switchblade was made of...along with steel. After learning about weapons, I found out that mortals couldn't see through the Mist, which was a magical...thing...that kept them from seeing the true horrors of the monster world. However, there were a select few who could see through the Mist and would see monsters and demigods. I was kind of mad at the fact that demigods could be affected by the Mist as well, but I guess the gods could do what they wanted. After flipping through more pages, I found a metal called Stygian iron. It was very uncommon and usually children of Hades would get them.

Okay, whatever bad things I have said about books before...well, I take them back. Although the book was full of words, I was a boy and boys love weapons. At least, that's the case for me.

By the time I finished finding out about Stygian iron, it was time to arrive in Chicago, in the infamous Union Station.

"Hello everyone," someone said over the speaker thingies at the top corner of each train car. "We are now arriving in Union Station in Chicago, Illinois. The local time is 9:45 AM. Thank you for travelling on train number forty-nine on Lake Shore Limited to Chicago. Have a wonderful day."

When the train stopped, I was the first one out and I speed-walked to the exit. As soon as I did exit, wind blasted me in my face.

"I guess they really meant to call Chicago the 'Windy City,'" I said to myself as the wind roared around me.

The sky was cloudy and full of thunder clouds, that seemed to threaten to close around the city.

_Well, I'm halfway there. I'm in the Windy City_, I thought to myself.

Then, I pushed forward, ready to kill the next ten hours of my day.

* * *

**This is the beginning of Percy's challenge to slay the Crommyonian Sow. He better watch out, he better not cry, he better not pout, I'm telling you why. Monsters don't hesitate to kill you once they sense that you're a demigod.**

**Hey everyone,**

**This is just an experiment. It is probably going to suck. ****I know, it has been done before, bla, bla, bla...** But I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing. Plus, vote on the poll.

**Question of the Chapter: How old should Annabeth and Thalia be? (I know I asked this question, but I only got a couple of answers. I already know that eighteen people on the poll said that Thalia and Percy should be the same age).**

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	6. The Train Wreck

**Hey everyone,**

**If you haven't already, please vote on my poll to see who Percy gets to "meet." Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thanks to all those who reviewed in the previous chapter:  
jesse1212, CourtingTheMoon, Percy Waterblue, Son of Erebus god of Shadows, AbigailPaine, AnimeXMangaAddict, Bartimaeus12, XxThisMyFriendIsAPenxX, & FaTaLClanWii.**

**I would like to say that I am grateful for all of the support that the readers have given me and I want to thank you all for just reading this story. You don't have to review or anything, but just reading this story is good enough for me. This story is very slowly progressing and I am not sure if I should include the entire story of Percy's travels, or if I should just highlight the main events. Whatever happens, I'd be happy to include your thoughts, like always (but only if they fit with the story line that I have planned so far).**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Percy 6**

**The Train Wreck**

How long does ten hours seem like to you?

If you said long, imagine how long it would've been for a well-rested, hyper seven year old boy with ADHD.

I was pretty sure Zeus hated Chicago because why else would he send storms and high winds to the city. It was wet and sloppy and extremely windy. Still, the streets were packed full of people, enjoying the early dismissals of the first days of school. The season was still summer, although it didn't seem like much of a summer to me. But I was sure that Demeter took pity on the city of Chicago because it felt around seventy degrees Fahrenheit to me. Yes, I knew that Demeter changed the temperatures of the seasons.

I felt kind of awkward standing on the street because under dry cover, I was pretty much the only person who wasn't wet...at all. It probably came with the water powers that I couldn't control yet.

As I was walking across the Adams Street Bridge that crossed over the Chicago River, I looked up and saw the Sears Tower.. It was the tallest building in the United States, and now that I was there in person, I could say from _personal_ experience that the Sears Tower was enormous. It seemed to reach out to the sky asking to go up into the heavens...which was really on top of the Empire State Building in Manhattan. At least, I thought Olympus was there. I mean, it _did_make sense. Using the Mist, Mount Olympus could be hidden up in the sky. It must take a lot of people to hold it up though.

I continued walking past the Sears Tower and toward a Starbucks that I saw down the road. The wet rain continued to pour down on the city, as if Zeus had hundreds of buckets of water to dump on it.

I finally reached the cover underneath the entrance of Starbucks. I noticed curious stares at me as I entered. I hid myself in my hood and walked to an empty seat. I opened the map that I took from the train station and looked for cool places to go. The map was so complicated, that it took me over an hour to figure out what cool places there were to go to.

So, for the next nine hours of the day, I trekked around Chicago passing by the Buckingham Fountain, heading to the Lincoln Park Zoo, not bothering to enter the Harold Washington Library, and passing through Chinatown and the Heart of Chicago.

It was a very long journey, but hey, it passed time. It was 7:30 when I got back into Union Station.

"Train fifty-nine on City of New Orleans to the birthplace of jazz is ready to board the elderly, the handicapped, and the young. Train fifty-nine on City of New Orleans to the wonderful state of Louisiana is ready to board the elderly, the handicapped, and the young."

Like in New York, I boarded the train and the person checking my ticket muttered the same thing about my "name" meaning 'son of the sea,' and my father's "name" meaning 'the sea.' Then he wished me a good ride to New Orleans and I boarded.

It was another boring nineteen or so hours on the train where I kept reading the Greek Creatures encyclopedia. I was tired so more of the words floated off the page-yes, I had trouble reading Greek sometimes-and twirled like ballerinas.

I soon fell asleep to more dreams that I had not seen for a couple of weeks.

* * *

"Who are you?" a dazed Luke said.

I could tell why Luke seemed dazed. There was a woman in front of him and she was stunningly beautiful. The woman was...well, I couldn't describe her because I was as dazed as Luke. And I wasn't even _physically_there.

She put her hand out to touch Luke's face. His blue eyes were wide open and alert, but his thinking was slow and he let the strange, beautiful lady touch his face. I guessed that the lady was some sort of monster.

"It is not a matter of who I am," she said, "but of what I do. You see. Back in the ancient times, I was the queen of Libya and I lived a wealthy life. I was also loved by Zeus, the king of the gods. He was a charmer, wasn't he?"

"I said, who are you?" Luke said, his voice seeming weaker.

"Don't worry, little demigod, your time will be up soon. But if you must know, I am Lamia, daughter of Poseidon," she said.

I frowned. _I have a monster for a half-sister?_

"Daughter of Poseidon. Queen of Libya. Lover of Zeus..." Luke trailed off as the lady moved her face closer to him.

"Yes. You also forgot one thing," she whispered into his face.

Then I heard a voice, a male's voice, echo in my head. _Run, Luke. Run._

The lady probably didn't hear the man's voice because she kept moving her head closer to Luke's. But Luke heard the man's voice and obeyed it. As if the voice was a godly force, Luke gained the strength to break from his dazed trance and took off running.

"Come back here, son of Hermes!" the lady shouted. Then she transformed into a monster that I really did not want to see. She was pale white, like the _empousas_were, and fangs grew out of her mouth. Her previously lush looking hair turned green and mucky, like seaweed and they grew up towards the sky. Her hair kind of looked like rooted seaweed doing "the wave" without any noise. The lady's legs turned scaly, like the serpent-ladies' legs except that Lamia's still looked like human legs.

"You see, what has become of me? Why I am like this?" Lamia shouted as she chased after Luke. "It's all cursed Hera's fault. She stole my children from me, and I shall steal other people's children from them to show them the misery that I have gone through. I will take your life as well. Your father loves you, and when I take your life, I will show him what pain losing your children brings."

Luke, who was ahead of Lamia by over fifty feet, suddenly halted when she said _Your father loves you_.

A sword in his right hand that he unsheathed from his scabbard pointed forward toward Lamia as he turned toward her.

"What do you mean, _loves me_?" he asked.

Lamia laughed. "The gods sure do make a whole lot of mistakes. Do you know why your father has never contacted you? It is because of Zeus. He may be my lover, but sometimes he can be stupid too. He made an ancient rule of where the gods are forbidden to have interfere with quests that demigods take part in, _and_the gods should have minimal contact with their children."

"That's not true," Luke retorted. "Hermes is a troublemaker. He would break the rules without causing any alarm. If he wanted to help, he would have already."

Lamia laughed some more. "Do you not know _how_you got here? Do you not know how you have gotten to Albany without being harmed too often? Because of your father." Luke looked stunned. "But despite all of the help he has given you, you are still faithless in the gods. So, let me help you by killing you, young hero. Die!"

She lunged at Luke and grasped him by the neck. She spun around him and opened her mouth to bite into Luke's neck.

If my voice worked in the dream, I would've yelled "No!" But my voice didn't as I prepared to watch Luke get killed by my much older half-sister.

_Fight_, yelled the man's voice that was heard earlier. It seemed to fill my mind with raw power. I felt as if I had gotten a large boost of energy, and so did Luke. In that moment, I saw Luke with a faint aura around him. And he stabbed Lamia in her chest. She wailed as she collapsed to the ground. The aura disappeared and Luke staggered backward. He looked at the monster, stunned when a volley of silver arrows sprouted from the not-yet-dead monster.

Luke jumped, startled, and saw something. I couldn't see anything as he wasn't facing the direction I was in. Then, he burst away from the dissolving monster, and ran straight into my dream-form, destroying my view of Albany, New York.

The last thing I saw before I woke up was a glimpse of a girl in silver clothing. She held a bow in her hand, an arrow notched, seemingly ready to pounce any animal that would come near. The one thing that stood out about her was that she wore a circle on her head, a silver tiara kind of like an angel would have. Then, the imagine faded into the dark abyss that was my imagination.

* * *

I woke up to the sounds of panicking and screaming. At first, I thought it was my imagination, but then my eyes groggily opened and I saw that people were actually screaming and panicking. I saw that the front car of the train and derailed off of the track and had exploded killing everyone in the first two passenger cars.

Somehow, the third car and all the train cars behind it were safe and still on the railway. But the fact that there was now no lead train pulling us along-or to stop us-was not so pleasant. The tunnel leading back to the passenger cars from the third car was now becoming packed with people. A lot were afraid that we were going to crash and burn or something.

I looked outside and saw that we were in a green and forested area. There was one road nearby, but otherwise, there was nothing around.

I forced my way through the crowd so that I could get a good look at where we were headed for. In the distance were tiny dots looming up closer. I assumed that they were buildings, but small buildings as they didn't rise above three stories. The town looked small, from my point of view.

"We're going to crash!" someone yelled.

"No, we're not! Stay calm, and be patient. I'm gonna call for any help that the town could help us with," a waiter said. "Maybe they'll-"

The front part of the third car blew open and wind gushed in. The train wasn't heading at top speed, but the speed of the train was still high. Though slowing down, it felt like the train was heading at a gazillion miles an hour.

When the front blew open and the wind gushed in, I was thrown back to the fourth cart like a ragdoll. I crashed into a crowd of people and heard multiple _oof_'s.

The waiter that was trying to calm things down was crashed into by a couple people and his head hit the counter. He was knocked unconscious.

The town was now visible through the trees.

The front of the third cart now had small flames licking the broken edges of the metal. I groaned as I got up from the mass of people. I heard another explosion, except this time, it sounded like it came from the back of the train.

More terrified screams were heard from the back. I looked around helplessly, not knowing what in the world was causing the mess.

Then, I heard distant yelling.

"He's mine!" a shrill voice yelled.

I heard snorting of...horses? The sound was approaching me. Then after a few seconds, the snorting of horses stopped and now I heard growling. The oh-so-familiar growling that I had gotten accustomed to over the past few weeks.

The side of the fourth cart exploded and I saw limp bodies of dead humans soar out the window. The ones still alive retreated to the fifth cart and hid there. Three black hellhounds had jumped on the bus, somehow penetrating the metal of the train. I backed up to the point where all of my clothing was rippling in the wind. The flames licking the edge of the third cart had stopped as the wind had put them out.

A demon spirit appeared in front of the hellhounds who were all growling at me. I was pretty sure that vampires were real because along with the _empousa_ and Lamia, this creature had a pale, sickly face and fangs. The only difference was that the _empousa_and Lamia had looked beautiful-even in their horrifying forms-and this creature looked like she'd been dumped in a sewer for years.

She was smiling gruesomely, showing off all of her teeth, which were all canine. They looked like a mix between yellow and red, though not exactly orange. What I meant was that the teeth were yellow, but stained with red. I had a bad feeling that the red was...oh, I don't know...children's blood. And I was a child.

I've had a bad experience with an _empousa_before, and I only escaped because my father had helped me by blowing up the water pipes of a diner in Brooklyn.

But that was Brooklyn and in a diner. Now, I was on a speeding train headed for a small town in...I dunno, Mississippi?

"Hello, Percy Jackson," the demon spirit said. "How are you doing?"

"Well, I'm fine. I'm seven years old and on a speeding train probably going to die," I replied sarcastically. "I'm doing fine."

"Young and sarcastic," the demon spirit said. "You are much like your father."

"You know whose child I am?"

"Of course. You are like a celebrity to all monsters." The spirit smiled that sickening smile. "Of course, the ones that _know_of you."

"Which ones don't?" I asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

One of the hellhounds growled, but the spirit held up a hand. "You have served your purpose. He is mine. In exactly five minutes, hit the train off the track."

As the hellhounds jumped out of the speeding train, I realized that they were the ones who had caused the explosions.

"Not quite, son of Poseidon," the demon spirit said. "Those were the Mares of Diomedes. They are more like the Mares of Hades now, but that's not the point. I came here under strict orders to kill you."

"Orders? From who?" I asked.

"Well, who else? Hades."

I looked around to see if there was an escape route that I could take to escape the monsters, but the only way to get out was to climb onto the edge of the third car and jump off. I glanced behind me and saw the town getting nearer by the second.

"There is no escape, Percy," the spirit said. "Just admit to the fact that you will die here."

"No!"

The spirit moved toward me. "Do you know who I am?"

I shook my head, frightened.

"I am Mormo. Does that ring a bell?"

I shook my head once again, biting my tongue. No offense to the demon, but Mormo sounded a lot like the name Disney would give to a stupid cow or something. They did name an elephant ,with giant ears, _Dumbo._

"Well let me introduce myself," Mormo said. "I am Mormo, a demon spirit of the Underworld. I feast on children who are bad. I am sort of like the punishment version of Santa Claus. He gives presents to those who are good, and I kill children who are bad. Hades has sent me on a mission. He wants me to kill a very bad child named Percy Jackson."

"I did nothing wrong," I said.

"But you _are_wrong, a wrongdoing. You should not have been born. And since Poseidon is not a child, and is a very powerful god, I must take it out on his offspring," Mormo explained. "Have fun in the Fields of Punishment, Percy Jackson."

I ducked as the demon spirit swiped at me. I pulled Riptide out of my pocket and uncapped it. It sprung into a three-foot blade of celestial bronze. I swiped at the spirit and somehow cut its arm. It wailed and hissed. There was something like spit coming out of her mouth, but it was more green than it should've been. Then I realized that it was poison.

I loosened my footing on the ground to get in a fighting stance, which turned out to be a fatal mistake.

The wind was still blowing strong, and I lost my balance. I toppled and crashed into the bar in the fourth car. It was full of glass, and I cut myself anywhere there was bare skin.

Mormo cackled an evil laugh as she walked toward me. I backed up slowly until my back was touching the side of the train car.

"I told you that you would die today, Percy," Mormo said. She passed by the shelf where all of the alcohol was stored. It was a miracle that none of them had collapsed, almost as if they were glued to the shelf. The liquids shook as the train did, as the train bounced along the train track. _Liquids..._

I stuck my hand out and Mormo stopped her approach. "What are you doing?" I focused on the water inside of the alcohol, and the bottles started shaking harder than they were rattling before.

My energy started draining quickly as the effort of trying to control the water in the alcohol was tiring. My arm shook as I tried to make them explode.

Mormo turned around to see the bottles shaking near bursting-point. "No," she hissed. She turned to me and yelled, "No!"

Just as she said that, all of the bottles of alcohol exploded, drenching the entire area in the stuff. Mormo wailed as she was knocked over the counter. She managed to grab a hold of the edge before she could fly out of the hole in the car.

"No!" Mormo turned to me. "You better be good, otherwise I will be back to haunt you. And next time, I won't fail."

I swung my sword and she vanished into thin air. The only thing left of her was her poison that was steaming on the ground. I was weary and tired from the fighting and wished for nothing more than a nice rest. But I couldn't get one.

The train car shuddered, as if something were pounding against it. I was knocked forward and was flipped over the counter. I landed with a grunt into the steaming poison that was left over from Mormo.

Then, I screamed. It was burning through my hoodie and shirt, and I felt like I was on fire. The train car shuddered again.

_In exactly five minutes, hit the train off the track_, Mormo had said to the hellhounds.

Just before the train car shuddered a last time to knock _me_out of the gaping hole in the car, I looked at the horror-struck faces of the mortals as they panicked and screamed. I felt guilty about not helping them, but I was, after all, just a seven year old.

The train car shuddered a third time and I was thrown out into an open field of soft grass. There was so much momentum that I continue rolling through the grass for at least half a minute. I didn't know exactly how long I was knocked out because after the half minute, I hit my head on the ground and was knocked unconscious. One thing I was certain about, though, was the fact that my body felt like it was on fire.

* * *

My senses started working as I regained consciousness. My eyes were still shut, but I felt really tired and kept hearing a constant beeping.

I groaned as I lazily opened my eyes. When I fully opened them, I realized that I wasn't outside. In fact, my room didn't even have a window. Around me were medical supplies and a heart rate monitor. There was a curtain hanging in front of me and I noticed that I was lying on a hospital bed.

The last thing that I had remembered was my body tumbling through the, luckily, soft grass of some small town after I got hurled off of a train. I remembered fighting a demon spirit called Mormo and hellhounds smashing against the train trying to knock it off the train track and...

I shot up straight in my bed as I remembered the events as clear as day. But shooting up was a pretty bad idea as my ribs felt like Hades. _Not you, Lord Hades. Hades as in Underworld_, I mentally apologized to a very powerful god who hated me.

"It was a nasty spill, and a nasty event," someone said. "You were the only survivor."

A man stepped through the curtain and for a second, he looked like an older version of Luke. This doctor had the same kind of sandy-blonde hair, and blue eyes. Luke and the doctor both had alert blue eyes that seemed to examine everything around them. The difference between them, though, was that the doctor didn't have that mischievous look. Luke had the kind of look that made him look like a troublemaker, but this guy...all he had was a blinding smile, as if the sun was shining from his teeth.

"What...What happened?" I croaked. My voice sounded dry and scratchy.

The doctor frowned. "Here." He handed me a cup of water. "Drink this, and then take another cup and splash it on your face."

I listened to the doctor, seeing as he knew more about healing that I did. After I completed the task, I felt less tired and less groggy. I sat up straighter on the bed. "So, what happened to the train?"

"Amtrak train number fifty-nine to New Orleans?" he asked. I nodded. He grimaced. "It was terrible. A few hundred deaths or something. Police are investigating now. You were the only survivor."

A pang of guilt flashed through my body once again as I thought about all of the innocent lives that I had cost. It was my fault that the monsters had even interfered with the train's course in the first place.

"How...how did I survive? I remember...rolling on soft grass, and then my head hit the ground and I was unconscious," I said. My voice was slightly shaky. Death wasn't exactly high on my _I-am-totally-okay-with-it_list.

"The people of Hazlehurst found you lying near the Damascus Cemetery all broken and bruised. At first, they took you to the Hardy Wilson Memorial Hospital, but then they sent you down here, to the Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center. Oh, by the way, welcome to McComb, Mississippi," the doctor explained.

"And I was saved?"

"Yeah. The ambrosia in your bag was plentiful. Your dad really helped you out there. Can't say I wasn't tempted to take the stuff myself, but I couldn't lie to you about it."

I narrowed my eyes at the doctor. _Who is he?_

The doctor cleared his throat.

_"Eat the ambrosia_  
_Then you are free to check out_  
_Lucky hunting, Perce."_

Doctor, couldn't tell lies, teeth shone like the sun and made poetry-horrible poetry, but poetry nonetheless. "Apollo?"

"Hey!" the doctor exclaimed. "You finally recognized me. You're like a celebrity up on Olympus. Uncle P is awesome, so I help him from time to time. It's why I'm here. Plus, I really wanted to meet you."

"But I thought gods aren't supposed to make contact with demigods?"

"Technically, we gods aren't supposed to interfere with demigod quests and stuff like that. Did you get a prophecy to go wherever you're going?" he asked.

"No."

"Exactly! I'm completely free from getting punished. Although, my dad won't be happy that I helped his brother's child. Oh well."

I sat there for a few more seconds. "Is there anything else that you have to tell me?"

"Oh yeah. By the way, the guy from the UPS Store wants to talk to you."

"UPS Store? Who is it?"

"It's better if you figure it out yourself." Apollo winked at me. "Just eat one more piece of ambrosia and you'll be ready to go there. Besides, you've been in here for days. I heard rumors that you're heading off to kill something. Then, you bring the spoil of war to your dad-"

"Yeah. I'm doing something like that." Wanting to ignore Apollo's ranting, I decided to quickly find a piece of ambrosia and get out. I know that Apollo was the god of the sun, but maybe the sun made him get hyper or something. He kinda looked like me when I ate my mother's cookies, all talkative and jumpy.

Apollo handed me an ambrosia square when I tried bending over to find one. "Here you are, Mr. Jackson."

"Thanks." I ate the piece of ambrosia and felt another surge in strength.

"Looks like you're ready to go and see the UPS dude," Apollo said. "Here are the directions to the shop. Plus, there's Burger King and Domino's Pizza on the way. You could stop for lunch."

I looked at the slip of paper that he gave me. In a perfect world, the directions would have been specific and actually readable. However, to me, what I saw was chaos. Letters were doing three hundred-sixty degree flips and shooting at each other with rifles. Some letters were dancing and...were the A and R's doing Irish jigs?

"Um...Lord Apollo-"

"Just call me Apollo. It's fine."

"Um...well, Apollo. I can't read English."

"Hm?" He looked at the slip of paper. "Oh! Whoops. Sorry, my mistake." He snapped his fingers and the directions became Greek. "There you go."

"Thanks," I replied.

This time, the words shimmered into readable English and the directions became clear. I nodded at Apollo who smiled and saluted. I walked out of the hospital, after Apollo filled out all of my papers and stuff, and breathed in the fresh air. It felt as if I hadn't breathed fresh air in a whole week.

I noticed a stack of newspapers sitting by the door of the hospital. I went over and picked one of them up. The date said _September 20__th_.

I had been in the hospital for a very long time. My deadline to kill the Crommyonian Sow was one month shorter.

I looked out to the city of McComb, Mississippi. The city looked pretty big, but like with the small town that I saw when the train crashed, none of the buildings were really, really tall. The weather was much nicer than it was in Chicago a couple weeks ago. The sun was shining high in the air, seemingly still as Apollo was in the medical center. The temperature was pretty hot at eighty-two degrees Fahrenheit.

I took a ten minute walk to get to the UPS Store. I decided that I would eat after I met whoever wanted to meet with me.

I walked into the store, which was empty except for the man at the desk. I shrugged and went up to the counter to talk to the man. He looked pretty fit, not having a bulging stomach and not looking like a broomstick. He had curly brown hair, blue eyes, and an upturned nose.

When I walked up to the counter, he looked up from the newspaper he was reading and grinned at me. For a second there, I thought I recognized him, but when I blinked, he was back to an anonymous stranger.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "Hey, Percy. How are you doing?"

"Um," I started nervously, "I'm good."

"No need to be shy," he said. He grinned at me again and I had that feeling that I had met this guy before.

"Who are you and what did you want to talk about?" I stared into his eyes which twinkled mischievously. Somehow, I got the feeling that this guy knew more than I thought. "Apollo said that you wanted to talk."

"Ah, yes," the man mused. "I did come in a couple days after the crash and asked him to send you here once you woke up. I have something very important to tell you and-"

He was cut off by a ringing. He sighed. "Just a second here, Perce." He reached into his bag and pulled out a cell phone that was glowing blue. The antenna grew and I saw two creatures slithering around it. They acted like snakes, seemingly snapping at each other, but they were no bigger than earthworms. I thought that the man might have been worried about two creatures wriggling on his phone, but he didn't give the earthworms a second thought. "Yeah, I know... I'm busy!... No, I don't care if he's drunk... No, that's Dionysus' thing. I can't... Just go to Eris in customer service, I'm in a meeting." The man hung up the phone and place it on his desk. "Sorry about that, Percy. Having to deliver packages continuously gets exhausting sometimes."

This time, when he grinned at me, I recognized him. The mischievous twinkle in his eyes, an elfish grin, and blue eyes; Luke had those, although the grin was less frequent because he was running from monsters.

"Hermes?"

He smiled. "That's me."

"What are you and Apollo doing here?"

"Well, Apollo was here to help you not stay wounded for a long period of time. Regular doctors wouldn't be able to fix you up. And I am here because we need to talk. It's about my son-"

"Luke."

He straightened up. He reached out for his phone and put it back in his bag. "You know of him already?"

"Yeah," I said. "I've had dreams."

Hermes sighed. "That's good. But Percy, I need your help for the future."

"What is it?"

"I can't say too much, seeing as nobody but me knows about it, but I've seen visions of the future. I know that you and Luke meet up in the future and do...certain things." He took a pause. "I want you to promise that you will do the best you can to help keep my son safe."

"But why?"

"I saw one vision. And he was hurt, badly. But try to prevent that. I know you can."

"Future..."

"I can't talk to you any more about it as it is not good to tamper with the future. But if you ever do meet my son. Remind him that I do care about him, but I am a god and I must follow my duty."

I was speechless. It was mostly because my tiny seven year old brain was trying to take in all of the information that was given. But a part of it was because I was told about the future. I would meet Luke one day and do things with him. By "certain things," I assumed Hermes meant fighting together or stuff like that.

"And also, Percy. I want to help you as well. You may be important to my son's future," Hermes said. His blue eyes pleaded with me and the mischievous look temporarily disappeared.

"I'm...I'm just seven."

"I know, I know," Hermes sighed. "But don't forget this."

I nodded. Then, he handed me an envelope. It was sea-green and had the smell of ocean on it. It was from my father.

"Don't open it until you reach New Orleans," Hermes said. "Your dad said so."

"Okay."

"Well," Hermes said, "good luck with your little mission. May Tyche be on your side."

I exited the store and breathed in the fresh air that I hadn't had in the past couple weeks. The sun was still shining in the air and the temperature very warm. People drove on the streets nicely and calmly, unlike some cars in Manhattan did. Pedestrians seemed happy and everything was all swell. Except for me.

I looked across the street at a couple holding hands and laughing with each other. They might have felt fine, but me, no. I had a big weight on my shoulders to try to help Hermes' son, who I would meet in the future. Apparently, he would be in a dangerous situation and would get hurt. And I would be there too.

After eating lunch and refilling my stomach, I went to the edge of the city, where the city limits ended. I looked back at the nice city of McComb, Mississippi, and sighed. "New Orleans, here I come."

And I burst into a sprint heading into the forest south of McComb.

* * *

**I'm not sure if I got the description of Mormo correct, but its the best I can do. I don't always trust Wikipedia so I tend not to get information from there. However, there aren't that many sites that give you information about monsters. Also, about the meetings with Apollo and Hermes, I wanted to include those because personally, I don't think that any regular doctor would be able to fix Percy up if he's unconscious for a few weeks. I mean, what mortal would guess that apple juice or cubes of pudding would help heal a person. About Hermes, it is somewhat important for the future. I'm terrible at making everything important for future chapters of the story. And...that's why I included Apollo and Hermes.**

**Hey everyone,**

**This is just an experiment. It is probably going to suck. ****I know, it has been done before, bla, bla, bla...** But I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing. Plus, vote on the poll.

**Question of the Chapter: Should I write about all of Percy's adventures across the United States? Or should I write about the main points (for example, he finds the ranch in Texas, then I skip to the Lotus Hotel or something)?**

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	7. The Birthplace of Jazz

**Hey everyone,**

**If you haven't already, please vote on my poll to see who Percy gets to "meet." Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thanks to all those who reviewed in the previous chapter:  
Blitzing Riptide, jesse1212, Guest, Percy Waterblue, & Do the RAWR.**

**This is a very short chapter. It is more like the intro to the Crommyonian Sow. But either way, Merry Christmas everyone.**

* * *

**Percy 7**

**The Birthplace of Jazz**

Sometimes I felt really stupid when I did stupid things. Well...I guess everyone would feel stupid after doing stupid things, but I really messed up this time.

After around three days of travelling and reaching New Orleans, I made it to City Park. It was the largest park in New Orleans and was even bigger than Central Park in Manhattan. It was very nice and beautiful looking, but when I got there, a Greyhound bus arrived from McComb, Mississippi. How did I find out that it came from McComb? I overheard a conversation between the people who got off of the bus.

Anyway, I just sat on the bench, sulking about how I spent a few days out in the wild when I could've waited for the bus to bring me. Well...at least I still had thirty dollars to spend. I roamed the streets of New Orleans, watching as families strolled around.

New Orleans was really nice and considering Hurricane Katrina came through this city, it looked in pretty good shape to me.

I remembered hearing people say that New Orleans was built on a swamp and was essentially built on a dike. There was this fancy French-like word for it, but I couldn't remember what it was called. But because New Orleans was built on a marshy land, the ground was unstable and they had these really cool looking cemeteries where the dead people would be put in small building-like things...graves that were above the ground. I was totally afraid of the dark and cemeteries as stuff, but I just had to see the "Cities of the Dead."

I asked many people where the most famous cemetery was as I walked in City Park. Most people couldn't give me simple directions, but they pointed in the direction of the cemetery (which didn't help at all).

What no one told me about the cemetery was that it was almost four miles away. I was completely tired, and I hadn't had food for about a day (I took a stop in Hammond, Louisiana).

Today, I had no food, no money, and no transportation. I was literally on my own.

However, as I was walking, I took in all of the beauty of being in a city different than New York in...well, forever. It was mostly because Gabe wouldn't lend us his stupid car and we never went on planes. I had never understood this before, but of course it now made sense.

The weather was nice and warm at around eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit, and there were no clouds in the sky, except for the few white ones. The sun was beaming down on earth again shining its rays of light on us. All in all, it was a pretty nice day in New Orleans.

I passed by some street performers, who were all playing jazz music. Most played saxophones, but there were the occasional trombones.

I continued walking, and asking people for directions to the St. Louis Cemetery #1. They pointed in a certain direction and I walked that way. I kept doing that for at least an hour, though it felt like forever.

After a lot of time trying to get to the cemetery, I finally made it.

As soon as one of my feet landed inside of the cemetery, there was a shift in the mood. Suddenly, the air grew colder and gloomier. The mood wasn't evil, but it was close.

Involuntarily, I shivered. I continued walking, however, trying to get rid of the bad feeling I had about this place.

Despite the dark mood, I couldn't help but gape at the wonderful "City of the Dead." There were those building-graves everywhere. They ranged from tall and marble to small and stone. There were some brick graves too!

I looked at a few of the inscriptions on the tombstones...well, plaques.

_A great woman who will be missed._

_She was so full of life,_

_And was always happy in everything she did._

_She will be missed dearly._

_**Sally Anderson**_

_**1978-2000**_

**(A/N Percy is not in the year 2000)**

I paid my respect to the lady who died and closed my eyes to give her a moment of silence. Everything was quiet in the cemetery so it sounded much like Memorial Day. Or Veterans Day.

Then I turned to the next plaque.

_His goal was to achieve success,_

_And become a millionaire._

_He failed, but he kept on trying._

_Persistence is what he demonstrated best._

_We wish him the best of luck in the afterlife._

_**Aaron Jackson**_

_**1958-2000**_

I paid this man the same respect that I did the previous lady.

"Sally Anderson. Aaron Jackson," I muttered. "Sally...Aaron...Anderson...Jackson. Aaron Anderson. Sally Jacks-"

I cut myself off. _Sally Jackson_. My mother, who was now dead. I glared at the graves. What did the Fates want with me. Why do they have to be so cruel? Why did my mom have to die?

My vision flashed and started scrolling through different environments that I had been in for the past month or so. New York, Chicago, the Amtrak Train, McComb, Hammond, New Orleans, and so many more.

I clutched my head as the world started spinning uncontrollably. I heard a deep voice and held much power, yet attracted me at the same time. I felt like whoever this guy was, I should bow down to his every will.

Then, the voice changed and I heard a cold and raspy voice, like knives being scraped on a rock. _I will rise soon. Be patient. We must be sure._

Then I heard the voice of Luke Castellan. _Get away from me!_

A familiar female voice was yelling, _You let him die! How could you?! Don't call me a bitch when you _are_ one._

More voices, all familiar, except for the occasional ones, echoed in my head as my vision continued tunneling. I felt a sharp pain in my head, like I was being punched. I cried out and fell to the ground.

Whispering voices were talking to me. _Son of Poseidon. Famous isn't he. He'll be dead soon. I'll see to that,_the deep voice said over top of the whispering voices.

My eyes opened and I was back on the balcony where my mom had died. But this time, everything had the color of blood red and dark shadows around them. My mom was there, but in this vision, her eyes weren't normal. They looked like she was being taken over. She was sneering at me, her new black eyes glaring into my soul.

"You failed me," she said. "How could you let me die?"

"Mom-"

"I don't want to hear it," she snapped. "You are the worst child that I could ever have. Be gone. Get away from me. Let me die once again, but you won't care. You will forget about me within a month. That proves you don't care about me at all!"

"No! Mom!"

She hissed at me and let go. Like before, she tumbled three stories into the solid pavement. As soon as her body touched the ground, my vision swirled again. I was crying while clutching my head.

My vision cleared up and I was back on the rocky beach where I first met Poseidon. "No!" I yelled. I didn't want to see anymore of people who care a least a little bit about me.

"No, what?"

I turned around to see a devil-like Poseidon holding the limp body of my mother in his arms. "You couldn't even protect her. You are worthless. I thought Sally and I would make one of the best heroes, but it appears I was wrong."

"Poseidon-"

"Remember what I say. I will never forgive you for letting Sally die. Her ghost will haunt you forever," Poseidon said. "And I will never help you again!"

Apollo and Hermes appeared in front of me. Like my parents, they had dark black eyes. "I only helped you because you are supposedly the prophecy child. You have to live," Apollo said. "I never wanted to meet you. You are probably the worst child of the Big Three that I have ever seen in my entire life. And that's a long time."

"Apollo is right," Hermes said. "That letter from your father. Pah! Fake. Who would want to send a letter to you?"

They both growled at me before disappearing into a large dark shadow.

"No! I...I..." I kept crying. It was horrible, hearing the only people who gave you the slightest bit of care beating down on you, calling you the worst child ever.

I curled up in a ball on the ground and felt the change in setting once again. I prepared myself for the yelling and cursing again, but all I felt was a warm voice hum. Slowly, my crying stopped and I looked up. There, was the ghostly figure of my mom, my _real_mom.

"Mom?"

"Hello, Percy," she said.

"I'm...I'm so sorry," I apologized.

"Percy, there is no need to apologize," my mom said. "Lord Hades has not given me such a bad time."

"W-What?" I wiped tears off my face.

She frowned. "I am not certain on why, but he put me in Elysium."

"The place where good people go?" I asked.

"Yes."

"But you're good mom, why would you think you wouldn't be put there?"

"Percy. I am your mother. Remember the oath. He would hate me."

"Right." I thought back to the devil-like Poseidon, Apollo and Hermes, and shivered.

"Don't worry, Percy," my mom said. "It was all just fake. Your father does love you. Apollo and Hermes, I'm sure, do care for you in the slightest bit. But remember the note, Percy. Remember the note."

Her figure was slowly starting to disappear. "Mom?" I asked. "Where are you going?"

"I'm sorry, Percy, but it is time for me to go."

"Wait-"

"Percy. All he wants is respect."

"Who?" But before my mom could answer, she faded into the sunlight. I appeared back in the cemetery, but the mood was normal. There was no odd chill in the air.

I listened to my mom's advice and opened the letter. At first, it was blank, and I was confused. Then, words morphed onto the card.

_Turn around._

That was all the card said.

"Thanks a lot dad," I muttered.

Then, something burst through the wall of the cemetery. I was blown back by the force of the thing, and I when I looked up. I saw the seething eyes of a giant pig, a giant _boar_, that went by the name of-

"The Crommyonian Sow," I said.

* * *

**The introduction to the Crommyonian Sow. Thanks for reading everyone and Merry Christmas. Isn't this going to a wonderful Christmas.**

**Hey everyone,**

**This is just an experiment. It is probably going to suck. ****I know, it has been done before, bla, bla, bla...** But I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing. Plus, vote on the poll.

**Question of the Chapter: Why do you think Hades let Sally into Elysium?**

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	8. The Crommyonian Sow

**Hey everyone,**

**Thanks to all of the people who voted in my poll to see who Percy "meets." Now, there is a new poll. I do lots of thinking and planning ahead so I would like to know if people want this to the first in a series of stories or just one final story. If you readers want a sequel, it would go in the order of Sea of Monsters, Titan's Curse etc. However, it will not be like TTC: Perlia or the BotL: Perlia because there are some major changes in the story. Please go to my profile page to vote. Thanks once again.**

**Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thank you to all of those who reviewed in the previous chapter:  
Undy Pundy, ghost83, ShotgunWilly, FaTaLClanWii, & TheAvidReader (guest).**

**Just a heads up, my chapters are not going to be long like the chapters of some other stories. If you want to know why...well...I don't need them. It is not like I need 7000 words to describe one battle scene. If you've read the PJO series and the HOO series, sometimes chapters are like four pages. Just something to put in your minds when you read other people's stories.**

* * *

**Περσεύς 8**

**The Crommyonian Sow**

Something about the boar made me feel scared. Whether it was the giant tusks-which were probably longer than my body-or its beady eyes glaring harshly at me, I was still scared. Although I felt scared, I uncapped Riptide, the sun gleaming off of the shining bronze blade.

"_REET!_" screeched the boar, and it charged.

Before last month, I probably would've run away from this creature to escape it. But now, as crazy as it sounded, charged at the boar.

As soon as it got within striking distance with its tusks, the boar swung his head and the tusks slashed at me. Considering the size of the tusks, if I kept charging I probably would've been thrown across the cemetery. I wasn't sure on how I had great reflexes, but I was grateful I did. When I saw the first signs of movement, I poured on the speed and when it swung, I dove under its legs. I kept myself on the ground as the boar's hooves pounded the ground around me.

After a couple of seconds, I jumped up from my position and turned one hundred-eighty degrees to face the beast. "You want me? Come and get me!" I yelled at it. Then I burst into the maze of graves.

It didn't turn out to be the best idea as I had to go through the maze myself and the boar just charged through the graves as if they were made of wood or something. I managed to get near the entrance of the cemetery, but the boar cut me off before I could exit.

"_REET!_" it screeched again. The hatred in its eyes was still there, clear as day.

I looked around for any distractions or escape routes. The only things I could see were trashed graves. The once beautiful city of graves was now trashed. A lot still stood, but there was a giant hole in the once neatly placed line of graves. It kind of reminded me of how this boar destroyed cities in Crommyon, back in Ancient Greece. Except now, the boar destroyed a city of the dead in New Orleans.

I barely had time to react as the boar charged at me. I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn't realize it was charging until it was almost too late. I rolled to my front right, away from its thundering hooves and its giant tusks.

Then, I heard a crash behind me. I turned around and saw that the boar charged right through the wall of the edge of the cemetery, and into oncoming traffic. One car swerved trying to avoid the boar, but ended up flipping themselves over.

"What in the world?" I heard someone say.

I swiveled my head to the entrance of the cemetery where security guards were pointing at me. "Get the kid!" the one I presumed to be leader called.

"Why me?" I muttered and sprinted out the hole in the wall.

Around where the boar had trampled into traffic, were many trashed cars, many frightened people, and of course, the squealing Crommyonian Sow. Its head swiveled around, trying to find me. When it did, its eyes narrowed and its footsteps started picking up. The sound of thunderous hooves came again. For fun, I did that winding up thing that cartoon characters did sometimes. Then I took off, like a tsunami was running after me...never mind, I wouldn't care about a tsunami. Like the army of Lord Hades was after me, chasing me until I had my final stand on top of a hill or something like that.

I burst through alleys and winded through the streets of New Orleans, which bought me some time to get away from the Crommyonian Sow. Unfortunately, the security guards could fit through the alleys as well, and by the time I reached Hardin Park, they had caught up to me.

"Stop! Stop!" the lead guard yelled. "Do not try to get away. Alex, handcuff him."

The guy named Alex stepped forward at me with handcuffs. I stepped back to try and avoid him.

"I said stop," the lead guard snapped. "Do you have any idea of the damage you have cost the St. Louis #1 Cemetery? For god's sake, almost half of the cemetery is gone because of you."

"It wasn't me!" I argued. "It was the boar!"

"What boar?" the lead guard scoffed. "Don't feed us lies, kid. It'll only get you a harsher punishment."

"I didn't do anything wrong!"

"You destroyed a famous cemetery, tourist attraction and the graves of the dead," he snorted. "Didn't do anything wrong my ass."

I heard the distant squeal and the incoming thundering of hoof beats. And before I knew it, the Crommyonian Sow appeared behind the guards.

"Look behind you!" I pointed to the boar coming up behind the guards.

"We aren't falling for that trick, mister. Now hold still while Alex handcuffs you."

Despite the fact that the guards were trying to arrest me, I couldn't let them get hurt. I leaped forward, past the guards, uncapped Riptide and held it forward like a spear or pike. Stupidly, the boar charged straight into my sword, letting Riptide dig deep into its heart. Momentarily, the guards were dazed and stunned. They were probably dazed and stunned because of the fact that I wasn't lying to them about there being something behind them. The guard named Alex was muttering something under his breath, but his lips moved saying something like "giant pig beast." However, the pig beast was no more. As it squealed one last time, it slowly crumbled into golden dust.

_Spoils of war_, I remembered from the objective sheet. I almost regretted killing the monster when I heard two loud _thumps!_

I looked around the guards and saw two large beaming white tusks encircling us. The guards were still in a daze, their eyes cloudy and misted. _Wait...cloudy and misted?_The first guard, who was not Alex, came out of the trance first. His eyes lost the misted and cloudy look, and changed back to blue, probably his regular eye color.

"Did you bring that..._thing_into New Orleans?" he asked.

I frowned, puzzled by his _different_question. "No."

"Are you sure you are not lying?"

"Positive."

"Alright then. Alex! Let's go. We have a lot of explaining to do to the mayor." The first guard snapped his fingers in front of Alex's eyes. They snapped from the cloudy and misty form to hazel, his natural eye color.

The guards walked away, retreating back into the city. I looked down and the giant tusks around me. Killing that boar seemed easy...too easy. I frowned. _Are monsters going to be this easy to kill? It's both good and bad. I mean, I want it to be easy so I don't get killed, but I guess I do like a challenge once in a while._

Through all of this, my duffel bag was still intact. I opened it up and reached for the envelope. I opened it up and read it once again.

_The Amtrak tickets will contain information when you decide to go on the quest._

I winced at the reminder of the train crash and the hundreds of innocent lives gone because of me.

_Your task: Find the Crommyonian Sow and kill it. Remember to take the spoil of war before leaving to the checkpoint._

How was I supposed to lug two giant tusks across a city?

_Due date: January 1__st__._

It was some day in September. I was very, very early.

_Checkpoint: Breakwater Park near Lake Pontchartrain._

Breakwater Park near Lake Pontchartrain was my destination now. But first, I needed to take the spoils of war. I assumed that the tusks were the spoil of war, but I was hesitant. First off, shouldn't spoils of war be small. What person would want to carry a tusk that was larger than them? And _two_ of them for that matter. And second of all, _how_was I supposed to carry the tusks.

I tried lifting the tusk, but it was too heavy. I tried dragging the tusk, but it took a lot of effort. I tried every way that I knew of, but to no avail. Frustrated, I punched the stupid tusk. Then I punched the other stupid tusk. Surprisingly, I felt no pain. My hand was red, but I didn't feel hurt at all. I guess years of Gabe punching me and getting thrown off a train with poison dripping all over you trains you to withstand a lot of pain.

I looked down at the tusk and was about to give up, when I noticed hair and the tusk. I bent down to look at it. I reached my hand out to touch it, but when I did, I didn't feel a strand of hair. I felt a crack, a hairline crack. I punched the tusk again, just to test. This time, I felt a small sting of pain rise up my knuckles. But at least I made another crack. I decided to kick and punch the tusk until I could get a travel-size piece. To others, I probably looked a little weird. A seven year old child... Then I realized something. I had called myself seven years old for the past month when I was really eight years old. I was seven the day my mom died, and my father visited me on my eighth birthday. Luke's face appeared in my vision, and he seemed to look a little older, older than a nine year old should be. Or maybe he was ten.

Well, either way, an eight year old child punching a tusk lying on the ground must've looked weird to others. After a lot of punching and kicking, I finally broke off the tip of one of the horns and picked it up. I scanned it, seeing to make sure it was real and wouldn't disintegrate in my hands. The tusk that I broke that was lying on the ground disintegrated, though. Not the part in my hands. I glanced at the other tusk lying behind me and then back at the part of tusk in my hands. Then back at the one on the ground, and then back at the one in my hands. "Eh," I shrugged. "This should be enough."

And with that, I turned around to ask my way to Breakwater Park.

Horizontal

I was halfway to Breakwater Park when I decided to take a shortcut through an alley in which I shouldn't have been in. When I took my first step into the alley, two head swiveled my way. They were exchanging something. It looked like a bag of powder. As one spoke to me, I realized it was a bag of drugs. What kind of drug...I don't know, but it's bad.

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here," sneered Druggie 1.

"Looks like a little kid has walked into on our deal," Druggie 2 smirked evilly.

"Well, we gotta do what we gotta do. We gotta make sure he doesn't tell no cops 'bout us," Druggie 1 said, slowly advancing on me.

"We gotta do what we gotta do," repeated Druggie 2.

They both took out blades...daggers. I knew my sword wouldn't harm them at all-I spoke from personal experience-as it was made of celestial bronze. All I could do was back up as they advanced on me. The distant smell of smoke and drugs filled my nose as they got close to me. Druggie 2 put the edge of his blade against my throat.

"This'll teach you not to tell the cops, unless you wanna be skewered," snarled Druggie 2.

He stabbed my left arm and I screamed...at least, I tried to. Druggie 1 kept his hand over my mouth so that my screams would be muffled.

"Now, what you got in that bag?" Druggie 2 asked. He reached for my bag. I desperately wanted to stop him, but I couldn't because I didn't have a weapon. That was until I felt something in my left pocket.

"Should I keep his wound flowing?" Druggie 1 asked.

"Nah. We don't wanna get busted for killing. We were only here for the heroin and money," Druggie 2 responded.

I suddenly remembered what was in my left pocket. My switchblade. As quick as thought, I slammed my left fist into Druggie 1's privates and kneed my right knee up into Druggie 2's privates. I pulled the switchblade out of my left pocket and activated it. A silvery blade sprung out shining in the shadows of the alley.

Druggie 1 lunged at me, but I leaped out of the way. Right after, I lunged at him and hit his temple, knocking him out.

My sixth sense kicked in and I blindly did a back kick. I heard an _oof_! Then I spun around with my switchblade and used the handle to smash into the guy's skull. He dropped like crumpled paper. I felt a few cuts on my face and shoulder, adding to the pain of the wound in my left arm. I was panting heavily, but I also felt kind of refreshed. Then way these drug dealers treated me was kind of like the way Gabe treated me, except Gabe never stabbed me. He only gave me a scar that ran down my right arm.

But, true to my word, I didn't ask for help. After I ate a piece of ambrosia, I sprinted out of the alley, not pausing for any questions that the people of New Orleans may have had.

Horizontal

It was almost two hours after the incident with the drug dealers before I got to Breakwater Park. I walked up to the water's edge and closed my eyes. After a minute, a salty breeze of ocean air passed through my nostrils and I opened my eyes.

Sure enough, my father was standing beside me, looking out at Lake Pontchartrain.

"You did good," he said. "But you were also wondering how you could kill the creatures so quickly."

At first, I was stunned at the sudden statement, but eventually I gathered up my senses and nodded. "Yes, father. Why was it so easy to kill the boar? How did I beat those drug dealers so easily?"

Poseidon chuckled. "Part of the reason is you. You are an exceptional swordsman. It is no wonder why Zeus was so mad. But another part of that is me. I have been giving you slight boosts in power when you needed them. I also...stupefied the boar when you were killing it. Not completely though. Don't think you didn't do anything right. I just made the boar not swing its tusks at you."

"So...you basically did everything," I concluded.

Poseidon sighed. "I wish not to see you dead. Is that so much to ask?"

"I guess not."

"Alright. About the drug dealers, that was purely your knife skills, though I may have subconsciously given you those skills, but that was long before this encounter," Poseidon said. "But from now on, you are on your own."

"The last time you said that, you ended up helping me."

"Well this time, you know how to escape. There is no need to fray."

We stood there in silence for a few more minutes. Poseidon coughed awkwardly. I looked at him, slightly confused.

"Do you have the spoil of war?"

"Oh!" I reached into my bag and pulled the broken tusk. "Sorry, but this is all I could get. I wasn't going to lug around that giant tusk from that park."

"It is alright. I understand." He grabbed the tusk out of my hands and threw it into the water. He closed his eyes and his lips moved in a silent prayer. The tusk, which was still visible, started glowing a gold light. Then, with a flash, it disappeared.

"Rest. Heal up. Do what you please. There is nothing that I want you to do just yet, but whatever you do, make sure you make your way to Las Vegas, Nevada," Poseidon said.

"Why?"

"I have an idea for a challenge," he smiled. "But, you do not have to do it in a long time. If I were you, I would head to the southeast corner of the United States."

"Disney World and Miami?"

"Precisely."

* * *

**Yes, I know. Lame excuse of why Percy is already so good at fighting. I couldn't make him a beast at just eight years of age. He'll have to wait until he's twelve. Smiles for everyone.**

**Hey everyone,**

**This is just an experiment. It is probably going to suck. ****I know, it has been done before, bla, bla, bla...** But I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing. Plus, vote on the poll.

**Question of the Chapter: Should I make a sequel to this story (Sea of Monsters, Titan's Curse etc.)? It affects what happens in this story.**

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	9. The Sunshine State

**Hey everyone,**

**Thanks to all of the people who voted in my poll to see who Percy "meets." Now, there is a new poll. I do lots of thinking and planning ahead so I would like to know if people want this to the first in a series of stories or just one final story. If you readers want a sequel, it would go in the order of Sea of Monsters, Titan's Curse etc. However, it will not be like TTC: Perlia or the BotL: Perlia because there are some major changes in the story. Please go to my profile page to vote. Thanks once again.**

**Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thanks to all of those who reviewed in the previous chapter:  
Percy Waterblue, bluelotus1670, CourtingTheMoon, ghost83, AbigailPaine, Bartimeaus12, Guest (you know who your are...if you're reading this), & FaTaLClanWii.**

**Oh man, last post of 2012. Can't believe the year is ending so quickly. I felt like it was just last week that I joined Fanfiction, but nope, I joined in September 2012. This is just a thanks to all of the people who have read my story because I know that I could do _a lot_ better. I am grateful for the people who read my story because I know at the moment there is someone who is spamming stories onto every single page and it will be hard to locate this story, so if you know anyone who reads Fanfiction, just tell them about this story. I wouldn't want it to get lost in the midst of that idiot who has no life and spams stories.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Περσεύς 9**

**The Sunshine State**

Like my dad said, I rested, healed up, did what I pleased, and went to the southeast corner of the United States. I even took my time and didn't rush anything. I lived a somewhat normal life, stealing food and necessary items, and fighting occasional monsters (I think Hades might've lost track of me). And it turns out that maybe without having to go on crazy challenges was okay. I mean, I _did _blow up two McDonalds and a Wal-Mart, but that's beside the point. Nine months and one day passed before the first interesting event of the new year occurred.

I was walking in Disney World, Magic Kingdom, looking for a cool ride to go on. I was in Liberty Square, staring at a map of the amusement park. There was Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Space Mountain. With Splash Mountain, I wouldn't get wet and I guess that was kind of the point of it. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was outside and pretty cool, but I was hot. Being outside would only increase my body temperature. However, Space Mountain was inside, dark, and "scary." _Well...maybe for people with... _I looked at the sign. _Hihg-bllld ppresser._ _Stupid dyslexia_. Another advantage of Space Mountain was that it was inside, and had air conditioning. Air conditioning was the best. I smiled, finally deciding what I wanted to go on.

The walk to Space Mountain, however, was so bad. It was still hot and humid, so I was sweating like crazy when I got to the lineup for Space Mountain. I tried reading the sign. It took me awhile, but I figured out that a person needed to be at least forty-four inches tall to ride on this. Also, children under the age of seven years must be accompanied by a person at least fourteen years old. I was over the age of seven so I didn't need a fourteen year old person with me, and I was surprisingly tall for my age. I stood at about forty-six and a half inches. But trust me, I have been that height for quite a few months now.

I waited in the line for an hour and a half before I got into the ride. I had gotten a couple of questions of where my parents were, and I tried my best to cover my sadness. I told them that they were outside, and they didn't want to go on the ride. It didn't seem like the best answer, but whoever I told it to just nodded and turned away.

I don't recommend going on Space Mountain if you are afraid of:

a) The dark  
b) Jerking around like a ragdoll  
c) Terrified screams  
d) Almost getting thrown out of your seat

Personally, I thought it was awesome. Honestly, I was crept out by the dark before, but after being chased by Hades for almost a year and hiding in dark alleys changed my opinion on it. Jerking around like a ragdoll doesn't hurt. What really hurts is being stabbed by a knife...multiple times...non-fatal wounds obviously. Terrified screams crept me out, but only if they were from spirits. All you could hear in Space Mountain were people _whoop_-ing, and _boo yeah_-ing, though there were slight hints of terror in them. I wasn't exactly afraid of getting thrown out of my seat. The ride was secure. The people who ran the amusement park made sure of that every day...at least, I hoped so.

After the ride was over, I excitedly jumped out wanting to go back onto the ride soon. When I burst out into the heat of the day, I immediately groaned. It was _really _hot outside. Compared to the temperature of New York, Orlando was like a sauna. I decided to go to the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to pass more time. I really wanted to head to Miami. Disney World may be cool, but beaches were the best. They had those beautiful, hot waters unlike Montauk. Well...maybe not hot, but warm. Definitely warm.

Then something caught my eye. I saw a glint of metal. Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking. _Ooh, metal. What's so special about metal?_ Well, it was bronze, a very familiar bronze. It looked very similar to my sword, but less shiny. I started following them, trying to stay out of their sight. _What are demigods doing here? _I thought to myself.

When they stopped in the shade and sat on a bench, I froze. _Where am I going to go now? _I quickly scanned around, and decided to act like a random person. I leaned against a stone wall that was very near them. I took a good look at their appearances.

There was one girl and two boys. One boy and the girl looked about thirteen, and the boy looked nine...definitely younger than Luke, but older than me. The girl had blonde hair and blue eyes, kind of like Apollo, except that her hair was straight and Apollo's was curly. Her blues eyes were the exact same, though. She had a close-range bow slung over her shoulder, and a quiver with bronze-tipped arrows. There was a dagger sticking out of her pocket, probably just in case she ran out of arrows. She was annoyed, glaring at one of the boys.

The boy she was glaring at had honey-blonde hair and...gray eyes? Yes, they were gray, stormy gray. His stormy gray eyes were looking around, seemingly calculating everything. Those eyes reminded me of a robot's: dull and boring. However, his honey-blonde hair kinda ruined that effect. Personally, honey-blonde reminded me of bees and I don't think that there would be robot bees...unless Hephaestus made them already. The boy had a bronze sword in his left hand. The hand was lowered and he wasn't on guard. Then, I turned to look at the last boy, still trying not to look suspicious.

The last boy looked lost. He switched his pleading look between the girl and the gray-eyed boy. His hair was short and spiky, unlike the other two, and it was glossy black. He had brown eyes as well. It was vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite grasp the face. His eyes were pleading, but there was also a hint of terror in them. I don't know why, but I swore to the gods that I felt a gut feeling that I would eventually meet this guy or something.

"We're lost!" the girl snapped and the gray-eyed boy. "All because of you. We were supposed to go down the coast of fire! We would've found what we needed already. Camp's gonna be worried about us now."

"Yes, yes. But there was something telling me that I needed to go down here. There was something..." he trailed off.

"I knew I should've said something when we reached Georgia," the girl mumbled.

"I have a bad feeling about this," said the spiky-haired boy. "Like something bad is about to happen. Do you guys feel that?"

They looked around for a moment and I tried to play innocent. I felt someone staring at me, and it took all of my will to not turn back to the group of three demigods. They were obviously from that camp that I barely heard about. But what were they doing in Florida?

"No," the gray-eyed boy stated simply. "Nothing is wrong."

Suddenly, the girl tensed up. "Oh, yeah. I definitely feel something wrong. You'd think Florida would be a nice place."

"Honestly," said the spiky-haired boy, "I think that sending us on this quest was a terrible idea."

"Well, we need to find him," said the girl.

"And why?" asked the spiky-haired boy. "Do you like him?"

The girl blushed. "Well-"

"Whoa! Stop!" exclaimed the gray-eyed boy. "Did you hear that?"

I was frowning to myself. What were these guys hearing or sensing? To me, nothing was wrong. Everything was the same. It was hot, humid, and crowded. Sweat dripped down my face and onto my shirt.

"Hear what?" the girl asked.

"Shut up," the gray-eyed boy snapped. He closed his eyes and tried to listen closely to whatever he was hearing. After a few seconds, he grasped his ears and collapsed to the ground. I looked around at the passing crowd. They seemed to see nothing.

"Jack!" the girl shouted. She dropped to her knees next to the gray-eyed boy who was still wriggling on the ground like a worm. The last boy unsheathed his sword and checked to make sure there were no monsters.

"AHHH!" A high-pitched scream came from down the road. Then I saw what the person was screaming about. A group of at least twenty serpent-ladies were heading right for us.

"Uh-oh," the spiky-haired boy said. "We've got company."

The girl looked up from the now silent, but not dead, gray-eyed boy. She noticed the serpent-ladies. "Oh, Apollo."

I wondered if that was supposed to be a way of cursing.

The hissing of the serpent-ladies now came within earshot. I couldn't tell what they were saying, but I think it had something to do with killing the demigods on the quest. Horribly, I tried playing along with the crowd and I screamed while pointing at the monsters. I got up and ran to a better hiding place. This time, I wouldn't look weird crouching behind a garbage can so that was exactly what I did.

The gray-eyed boy suddenly sat up. He seemed to shake himself awake and unsheathed his sword. "Scythian dracaena!"

_So the serpent-ladies are called Scythian Dracaena_, I thought, gathering up the information which I knew would probably go away if it didn't get implanted into my head.

The three demigods went to work against the _dracaena_. They took down ten of them before the girl was stabbed in the stomach by a _dracaena_'s spear. I wish I could have helped, but something told me to sit back and stay away. Also, since the group of demigods didn't have armor, the spear went right through the girl's stomach.

"No!" the gray-eyed boy yelled. He was distracted long enough for a _dracaena _to hack at him. It caught him in the neck and made a shallow gash. But it hit him in a vital place. He immediately dropped, blood flowing out of his neck like a water pipe leak. I continued to watch in horror as the girl got stabbed again, this time straight through the chest.

"NO!" the spiky-haired boy yelled. His brown eyes seemed to darken. "I will avenge you. Die stupid _dracaena_!"

I was amazed at his skill with the sword. He was better than me (obviously), but he wasn't a professional...yet. He hacked and slashed at the _dracaena_ until there was only one left. I suddenly realized that the monsters had stopped in fear. The spiky-haired boy raised his sword up to swing at the last _dracaena _when the air seemed to get colder. The light drained from the world and all color vanished. Then I felt hopeless, like there was nothing left to live for.

The darkness lifted.

The spiky-haired boy dropped his sword to his side and winced. It was as if he was being hurt from something inside his head. Like the dead guy named Jack, he grasped his ears, except only one of them. I watched as he slowly let go of his ear and his expression turned angry. His face reddened and scrunched up in an angry way.

I started to get up from my position crouched behind a garbage can and walked toward the spiky-haired boy. Step by step, my footsteps tapped on the ground. Everything around was silent except for the occasional whimpers, and shuffling of feet. People were slowly creeping away from the area, probably afraid that something like that would occur once again.

When I got within ten feet, the boy's shoulders drooped and relaxed. He took a step forward and _BOOM!_

Something crashed through the wall of the building next to me and the next thing I knew, I crashed into the wall outlining the pathway. My head hit it first so I was dazed. I saw a black hound leaping at me. I closed my eyes. This was going to be the end. I could fight a boar, but not a freaking hellhound. There was no time. Even if I tried to uncap Riptide, I would've been sushi. The switchblade wouldn't affect the monsters either. It would only kill werewolves and humans.

I waited for the last second of pain before heading to the Underworld, but nothing came. I slowly opened my eyes and found a bronze blade hovering above me. A pile of golden dust sat on my lap.

"You're a demigod," the spiky-haired boy said bluntly.

"Yes," I responded. I winced as pain shot up my ribs. They were probably broken this time. My head was also pounding, and the world seemingly tipping.

"I can't bring you with me, but you should head to the camp," the boy said. "It'll help you."

"Camp..." I trailed off. I racked my brain to try to remember if I had heard that before. But considering my head was pounding and the world was spinning, I couldn't exactly find out if I had heard of a camp before.

"Yeah. At camp, there this-" He suddenly stopped. I saw three versions of the boy stand up straight. He stared straight forward and started muttering to himself. I couldn't pick up on what he was talking about, but after about ten seconds, he bent down and helped me up. "Sorry about that."

He steadied me as I clutched my head. A voice seemed to enter my head. It was like one of the voices I heard in the graveyard in New Orleans. It was cold and raspy, like knives being scraped on a rock. _The son of Poseidon_, the voice mused,_ is valuable. We could use..._The voice trailed off. So apparently, the raspy voiced dude knew about me. When I was a child, I sometimes thought that I could possibly be a famous person, but I didn't think I would be famous in this way. However, the way that the voice sounded, it didn't sound very nice. It sounded evil, like pure evil. It could've been Hades...

"So," started the spiky-haired boy, "you're a demigod. Do you have a mortal parent?"

"Yes," I said solemnly. "I...I _did _have a mortal parent. She died."

"So your mortal parent is a woman. That means your father is one of the gods," he mused.

I tried to act like I was still taking in the information of being a demigod...like the day my mom died, when she explained it to me. I also tried to act as innocent as possible.

"Who's your godly parent?" I asked.

The boy's face immediately darkened. "Nemesis, goddess of revenge. But they don't have a cabin for Nemesis at camp so they leave me in the Hermes cabin. Hades, they don't even know I'm Nemesis' kid. My mother only told me in a dream."

The way he talked about not having a cabin at camp was tinged with bitterness. He was scowling at the ground. After a few moments of awkward silence, he looked back up at me. "I can't take you to where I'm going, but I can tell you where to go for camp." He paused. "Long Island, New York."

I nodded, genuinely surprised at the fact that I didn't run into the camp when I was traveling from Montauk to Brooklyn.

"I should be going," he said. "I really need to get to the Lord."

"The Lord?" I asked.

"Yes." He waved at me absentmindedly and walked away. The last thing I noticed about his eyes was that they looked distant, as if something was talking in his mind.

I frowned. _That was weird_, I thought. As the spiky-haired boy turned around the corner of a heavily damaged building, I couldn't help but think that maybe...maybe something bad was coming. Something bad was going to occur in the near future. But as to when, I don't know.

I looked up and my jaw dropped as I saw the wreckage that the _dracaena_ and the hellhound caused. Along the pathway (the trio had stopped in Main Street U.S.A.), three buildings had collapsed and four others had holes in them. I guessed that the hellhound had done that. I looked back at the ground and cringed. There was blood pooled all over the ground..._a lot _of blood. The faces of the two dead quest members were now ashen gray, as the blood had drained from their bodies.

Thunder rumbled in the sky, and I saw clouds rapidly moving in.

"Miami, here I come."

* * *

Miami was much better than Orlando. It wasn't raining, and there were no thunderstorms. It was nice and sunny and warm. It was perfect for going to the beach. There were tons of people as it was June and school was out.

Kids were running and splashing each other in the water, getting wet and laughing. One kid even got seaweed in his mouth. Let's just say that real seaweed doesn't taste as good as seaweed in sushi and stuff like that.

He was coughing up a fit, and glared at the kids who made him fall. Then the splashing started again.

I sat down on the sandy beach and opened my duffel bag. Although I had been through tough situations, this bag was very handy and never broke (because it was enchanted). I took out a flask of nectar and took a sip. Strength coursed through my body and I sighed in pleasure. I closed my eyes and took a sniff of the air. The very familiar scent of the ocean filled my nostrils and made me feel like I was at home. _Home..._

I opened my eyes and stared out to the sea. As much as I felt sad about my mom's death, I was also angry. She had never done anything wrong and although she had given birth to me-an illegal child-she was the nicest lady I ever knew. It should've been me who died instead of my mom. I was the one who should've been punished, but I knew my father would never allow that. Of course I had put the puzzle pieces together. It had been ten months. My father could only protect me or my mother and of course killing a child is not exactly good.

I was glad that Hades had put her in Elysium-although I wasn't sure why if he wanted to kill me-however, I was mad at Zeus. About my grandparents who died in a plane crash, and my mom who died by lightning, indirectly, both were caused by Zeus. He'd caused grief and sorrow from my mom when she was young, and now he'd caused grief and sorrow from me at the age of seven...and eight. But I wasn't completely like my mom. She was nice, unless someone threatened her, or if she needed to. But I was like my father. I was restless, wild, and relentless. It also caused me to feel anger when my mother died.

I looked out into the sea-green ocean. Cruise ships passed by as they departed for the Caribbean (I was at the south end of Miami Beach), and created white waves to form as the large boats sliced through the water as quick as...well, twenty knots. Compared to a car, it was very slow, but at least they didn't use sailboats. On a calm day like this, five knots would be impressive for a sailboat.

I zipped my duffel bag back up, stood up, and walked alongside the ocean. I had finally mastered the power of getting wet when I wanted to so I could act more normal than if I emerged out of water completely dry. Sometimes I think it's good that parents don't listen to their children, otherwise I would've been caught by now.

I rubbed my arm where the scar of the knife wound I took in New Orleans was. I knew I could've easily healed myself, but I wanted a reminder. I wanted a reminder that I may have been chased by monsters, but there are mortals out there who can take advantage of young children, and then hurt them. People like the drug dealers in New Orleans, people like gang members, people like pedophiles (yes, I've seen them), and worst of all, one person named Gabriel Ugliano.

My mother's death reminded me of Gabe so often, that sometimes I wouldn't sleep at night because I was watching out for a really smelly walrus that might come pick me up. I had read the news and over the past nine months, my disappearance from New York made its way up through all of New England. I know what you're asking: _How do you know that if it's only in New England? _Well, some major cities on the east coast were notified of my disappearance. Washington, D.C.; Newark, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Raleigh, North Carolina; Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee; Atlanta, Georgia; Orlando, Florida; and Miami, Florida. A lot of cities, right? Fortunately, my facial features had grown over the past few months so I wasn't easily recognizable, unless someone were to look at me for a long time.

In the article, it kept saying that Gabe really wanted his 'son' to come home. When I read this, I wanted to go back to New York and rip his head off. Either that, or make him sing soprano for the rest of his horrible life. I had always been young and clueless, so I never realized that Gabe had hit my mom multiple times in the past. It was only after her death that I had realized this. He'd abused her and she couldn't do anything about it. Why? Because he masked my demigod scent. Despite the horrible things he'd done to her, she'd stayed with him for my sake...which made me feel worse about her death. She'd sacrificed so much for me, yet she'd died and I couldn't save her.

I heard a yelp and realized that my emotions were affecting the water. Strong waves were pounding against the soft sand and knocked children over like toys on a tiny shelf. I took a deep breath and tried calming myself down. The thoughts of Gabe and Zeus swirled in my head like a whirlpool before draining down into the back of my head. But there was one last thought about Gabe.

"One day," I muttered to myself, "I will go back, and you'll wish that you'd never hurt my mother."

I walked along the shore without my shoes, my feet digging into the sand like I was trying to make my footprint on the moon. Ever since I had gotten introduced to the world of Greek gods and monsters, I had always wondered what Neil Armstrong _did _find, because Artemis' chariot was the moon, right? I looked up to the sky to see the darkened sky of the east. I kind of wished that maybe I could go to the west coast someday. I had never really seen sunset over the water. In the east, the sun set where the land was, not the sea. But one thing I could see now was Artemis' chariot in the sky, a whitish-silver color that reminded me of steel. Calm, but deadly.

I pulled out the switchblade in my left pocket, wishing that no one was looking at me. I pressed the button and the blade shot out of its tucked spot. I looked around at the decreasing amount of people. Then I pulled Riptide out of my pocket and uncapped it. I now held a gleaming bronze sword in my right hand, and a steel and silver dagger in my left. I stepped into the surf, and took a deep breath in.

As the last person disappeared from view, and night took over day, I closed my eyes and reached my hand forward. I felt an intense tugging sensation in my gut. It grew as I concentrated more. Then, as the tugging reached the point of pain, I let go and surged forward. An explosion of water blew up in front of me and I jumped through with my sword and switchblade. I hacked and slashed at an invisible opponent, and twirled like a ballerina. Who would have ever thought sword fighting and ballet would ever coincide?

It was because I was in water that I could do special tricks. After at least an hour of swirling and hacking, I finally back flipped onto the sand. Luckily, it was soft so my landing was nice. Unluckily, I didn't land in water so I tumbled backward into a sand castle that looked pretty...bad.

I got up, groaning as sand got under my clothing and into my underwear. I brushed the sand off and picked up my duffel bag-which I put down before I practiced. I drank a bit of water and got ready to leave.

That was when something sprouted from the water and hit my foot. I bent down to pick it up and saw that it was a switchblade, much like the one I owned, except it looked to be half bronze, one quarter steel, and one quarter silver. I took out the switchblade that I had in my pocket and held it next to the new blade.

"Keep it," a hoarse voice said from in front of me.

I looked up and was surprised to see a blonde-haired girl lying half in the water, half on land. The hair was honey-blonde, a familiar honey-blonde. Her eyes were stormy gray...just like the guy in Orlando. My eyes widened. Was this his sister or something?

"No," she said, a bit of hysteria in her voice. "All children of Athena look like this. Honey-blonde hair, and gray eyes."

"Children of Athena," I repeated. At first, I was a little shocked to know that she knew what I was thinking, but after hearing that she was the daughter of the goddess of wisdom, I kind of accepted it. **(A/N, Yes I do mean 'accepted.')**

The girl nodded, and coughed up some water. "Where am I?" she asked.

I frowned for a second. Shouldn't she have known where she was? "Um...Miami."

She let out a short bark of laughter. "Perfect. Rome, to Spain, to Bermuda, to Circe, and now Miami." She coughed up some more water.

I was beginning to doubt this girl's sanity. Did she say Rome? Why would she want to go to Rome? And where was Circe?

"That cursed blade"-she pointed to the half bronze blade in my hands-"has gotten me into a lot of trouble, but I know why. It is connected to the sea. Naturally, Poseidon and Athena do not like each other, so I believe that was why it never worked well for me. But since you have a silver blade, and are not freaking out about what I am saying, I assume you are a demigod as well?"

I nodded numbly. She coughed up some more water and it sprayed all over the sand. I took a closer look at it and realized with a shock that it was blood. "You're...you're-"

"Coughing up blood?" she finished. "I know. I'm dying."

I winced. It was the fourth death that I had to see in my lifetime...which was four too many. "There has to be some way I can help-"

"No," she said. "I can tell that you are no child of Athena. As long as you are not a child of Zeus or Hades, you'll be fine to use this blade." She chuckled again, letting some blood splatter on the sand. "Who am I kidding? There's no child of the Big Three. You'll be fine. But I definitely recommend using my blade over that switchblade of yours. It will prove to be much help."

I nodded once again. The girl smiled weakly. "This blade may be cursed, but it doesn't mean it won't kill."

"I'm not thinking about that," I muttered.

"I am grateful that you care so much about a stranger you have barely met."

"But...But you're dying."

Although she looked about fifteen, her eyes looked sadder and older than she should've looked. "The only good thing you can do for me is to remember me. I disappeared from camp years ago. I am sure they stopped caring. If I am here"-she pointed to my heart-"everything will be alright."

Tears started coming to my eyes. _Exactly what my mom did._

The girl looked like she was about to speak again when she had a spasm. Her body jerked and her head spun sideways. "_Seven half-bloods shall answer the call, to storm or fire the world must fall._"

"What? What's happening?" I shook the girl. "What are you saying?"

She jerked once again and spoke lines that I felt didn't fit with the previous lines. "_Wisdom's daughter walks alone, the Mark of Athena burns through Rome_." Her body went limp and she spoke no more, laying as still as a camouflaged stingray.

I stared at the dead girl with shock. I shook her multiple more times, but she would not awaken. Her soul was now in the Underworld. Despite not knowing her for very long, I could feel my heart dropping like an anvil. I looked up at the moon, which was a little dimmer than it was before.

Facing out to the ocean, I put my silver and steel knife in the girl's hand, and the bronze, silver and steel knife into my pocket. I placed her body in the shallow water and prayed.

"I know the knife is not much for a sacrifice," I said. "In fact, I believe I got the better end of the deal with the half bronze knife. But listen. _All_of the gods. All gods, anywhere, whether it be Hades, or minor gods like Hecate and Nemesis. Please listen. Help her. She's helped me. Just...do this for me, please. I promise that I will repay the favor in the future, no matter hard it will be. She's Athena's daughter and...well, you all know who I am. I know you do not like me, Athena, but I want your daughter to receive a proper funeral. Just...help."

There was a soft golden glow in the water and the girl's body disappeared. "Thank you. All of you," I said softly.

A vision flashed in my eyes, the first in a long time.

Twelve occupied thrones were sitting in a semicircle. All of the people in the thrones looked somewhat sad. I recognized my dad in there, and tried to see if I could recognize the gods. There was Zeus in his pinstriped suit at the head of the circle. He looked a little mad, but his eyes held a little guilt. I guessed Hera was sitting next to him. She wore an elegant white gown. Her gaze was steely, but thoughtful as well. I recognized Apollo and Hermes, a blonde-haired, blue eyed man, and a black-haired, blue eyed man. Both had curly hair. I found Hephaestus (he really stood out), Aphrodite (I was speechless), Ares (he looked like a gang member which made me instantly hate him), Demeter (lots of agricultural stuff), Dionysus (not exactly what I would picture a god as), Artemis (beautiful, but would probably kill me as I was a boy), and Athena (her gray eyes really looked analytic).

My father was speaking. "Just because we are not on the best of terms, Athena, does not mean that I dislike your children. I may not completely tolerate them, but I do not dislike them in any way."

Athena stared at my father warily, probably wondering how he could think of that. "He might not be that bad. But he better watch himself. It is not wise to keep him alive."

My father sighed and the vision dissolved. I was standing on a beach in the moonlight on June 21st, mourning over the death of a very close, yet very distant 'friend.'

It was totally fitting, seeing as Florida was 'The Sunshine State,' and her death was just a ray of sunshine.

But I couldn't stay. I had to keep moving...because I was on the run.

* * *

**Who's the spiky haired boy? Who's the girl? Why did he come to Florida? It is part of the future. Your questions will be answered as the story progresses, and if it doesn't, feel free to ask me to clarify when the story is complete. Gracias por ver esta historia.**

**Hey everyone,**

**This is just an experiment. It is probably going to suck. ****I know, it has been done before, bla, bla, bla...** But I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing. Plus, vote on the poll.

**Question of the Chapter: Should I just skip to the next challenge or included a certain place in the desert called 'The Junkyard of the Gods?'**

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	10. The Junkyard of the Gods

**Hey everyone,**

**Thanks to all of the people who voted in my poll to see who Percy "meets." Now, there is a new poll. I do lots of thinking and planning ahead so I would like to know if people want this to the first in a series of stories or just one final story. If you readers want a sequel, it would go in the order of Sea of Monsters, Titan's Curse etc. However, it will not be like TTC: Perlia or the BotL: Perlia because there are some major changes in the story. Please go to my profile page to vote. Thanks once again.**

**Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thanks to all who reviewed in the previous chapter:  
ghost83, CourtingTheMoon, Guest, FaTaLClanWii, jenn008, fjclay823, & DeathmatchDrunkard.**

**I am so sorry. This chapter was really stupid. Have run reading though...**

* * *

**Περσεύς 10**

**The Junkyard of the Gods**

"Stupid Phoenix," I muttered.

I had just blown up _another_building. I really hated my luck. Any bad that happened would be my fault, no matter what. I could be passed out in a McDonalds, and if the building blew up, the mortals would somehow blame it on me. I know my mom taught me to respect the gods and all, but I figured it was good to blame the gods whenever something bad happens to you.

I was just a young kid, but so far I had already faced death, abuse (from Gabe), witnessed deaths, and seen monsters so horrible I wondered how I could have possibly defeated them. In fact, quite a few of the monsters that I had faced, I couldn't kill them. I would just try to run away. And that's what I was doing at the moment. The stupid Phoenix that I'd met in Tucson was pissing me off. I'd read in the monsters encyclopedia that the Phoenix didn't attack humans and fed on balsam oil, but this Phoenix was attracted to me like I was a she-Phoenix.

I had escaped from it in Tucson, but it had found me in Phoenix. _Ha! A Phoenix in Phoenix, next you know, Hades'll be in Hades...oh wait. He already is._

Back to my earlier rant...I really hated my luck. What does a ten year old boy do to deserve fighting a whole bunch of monsters who could easily kill me if I didn't have a sword? Well, in my case, I deserved it just because I was born. Awesome, right?

Well, in the past year, I had fought tons of hellhounds, ghosts and spirits, _dracaena_, nearly fought with a giant with ram's horns, a Lernaean Hydra, the Colchian Drakon, the Ismerian Drakon, and the Lydian Drakon. Lots of monsters had tried to kill me, but I beat them or evaded them all and I was proud of that. Well, I was more proud at the fact that I hadn't died yet.

Seriously though, three drakons and a Hydra. With the Hydra...well, it went a little something like this.

I was eating in a small McDonalds in Missouri City, Texas, which was a totally fitting name seeing as there was a state named Missouri...

Anyway, I was eating in a small McDonalds in Missouri City, Texas. I had finished and I walked out the front door. I was taking the long route and was making a loop around the bottom of Houston and was going to wind my way up to Dallas, and then down to San Antonio. So, as I headed south, it was a couple hours later when the monster first attacked.

I was near Smithers Lake when I heard hissing. I thought they'd be dracaena sent from Hades-at least I thought it was Hades. They would keep mentioning the most powerful lord in history and honestly, I didn't think Hades was the most powerful in history. Don't get me wrong, he was powerful, just not the most powerful.

_Hiss! S_omething shot through the air, over my head from the hill that was in front of me. It landed about ten feet from me. I analyzed it and saw that it was acid. It was burning the grass around it, turning it from dead to...deader. Instead of being dry and yellow, the ground was now black like it had been burned, which I guess it had...to some degree.

I immediately pulled out my switchblade and pen, and activated them. That was a really stupid idea because monsters are attracted to celestial bronze, which was kind of stupid because they were killed by celestial bronze swords easily. Either way, it caught the attention of whatever monster was after me. I prepared myself, flipping my knife into icepick grip. I crouched, preparing for the monster coming after me.

Two heads appeared in my sight. They were weird, shaped like diamonds, but leathery. The teeth looked like shark's teeth, except that this monster wouldn't cuddle up to you like sharks did. Have I ever told you the story about meeting a Great White Shark and having him not eat me? Well, I would tell that later. The diamond-headed monster was my priority.

Then, the necks of the monster appeared over the edge of the hill. I frowned as they wore bibs that read: I'M A MONSTER DONUT KID. Wasn't Monster Donut a donut company? I had eaten there before, in Texas. I shrugged it off and told myself that they were probably souvenirs from demigods.

The monster hissed again and I realized that it was a Hydra. My confidence level decreased drastically. _Two heads could easily turn into four_, I thought. Then something flashed in my head._ Isn't a Hydra supposed to have at least five heads?_

I looked back at the Hydra and saw it's torso. It was about the size of a rhino and didn't look all that big. But it's size wasn't the scary part. It had twenty heads hissing and spitting acid at me. My knees turned to jelly, and my grip faltered. No matter how good or bad I was at fighting, I was scared. Being scared doesn't mean you're weak. It just means you're human. And I was...well, at least I was half-human.

Okay, here's the checklist of what I was at that moment. Scared, check; tired, check; just ate, check; about to die, check. Was there anything else that I forgot to mention? Oh yeah, I did forget to mention that I had aged even further. Don't you love when time skips and flies by when you're having fun? It was a year and a bit after the Florida incidents and I was ten years old. When I was in Texas, it was about October. In the present, in Phoenix, it was November.

Back to the story about the Lernaean Hydra, my knees turned to jelly and my eyes widened in fear. Before this incident, I hadn't faced any serious monsters besides the Crommyonian Sow. All I had faced were massive armies of hellhounds, at the time. So there I was, almost peeing my pants, staring at the twenty-headed monster.

"_No, no, no,_" I told the Hydra. "_There's no need to kill me._"

_Hiss!_ The Hydra spat more acid at me. I spun and hit the deck. The ground where I had been standing before was now bubbling with the acid that the Hydra had spit. "_Please don't get on my pants. Please don't get on my pants._"

I hopped back up and tightened my grip on my weapons. I twirled the knife in my left hand and pretended to look I was going to attack. The Hydra lunged at me with its fangs bared and tried snapping at me. I dodged to the side and kept the beast at sword-length. I spun and duck as acid came hurtling at me like meteors showering on Earth. After a couple of minutes of holding the monster at bay, I stupidly swung my sword. I cut the Hydra's head off with a _schlock!_The head came rolling off of the stump that was its neck and disintegrated into the ground. The thing that makes the Hydra so hard to kill was that it grew back heads. If it didn't, I probably would've killed it by now.

Two heads grew back from the stump that I had created and now I was facing a twenty one-headed beast. I took a quick glance behind me and got an idea. I wasn't exactly sure if it was stupid or not, but at least this way I wouldn't have to slice its heads off.

My gaze switched back to the front. The Hydra was slowly advancing on me, hissing and baring its fangs. I slowly backed up until I was at the edge of land. Any more steps backward and I would fall.

More hissing came from in front of me and I closed my eyes. I put my hand out in front of me and pointed at the Hydra with all of my fingertips. I concentrated on water, the ocean, the endless power, the currents, the tides, and I unleashed my might with a yell.

It wasn't much considering I was a ten year old, but it was enough. Water exploded from Smithers Lake and sucked everything in front of me-the Hydra and some dead grass-into the water. I was sucked in as well, but unlike the Hydra who was hissing and trying to spit acid, but only got a mouthful of water, I gained strength. I felt the power of the water coursing through me, as if my life source was water and I had that rather than blood in my veins. My weariness went away, and I opened my eyes to a thrashing Hydra.

I saw brave spirits of the water forcing the Hydra into a locked hold, trying to keep it in place. One of the spirits got bitten and yelped. She jumped away from the thrashing beast and held her arm. Other spirits who weren't helping restrain the beast tended to the girl.

I quickly went over to them. "_Do you have fire? Any sources of fire?_"

They looked at me warily. "_Humans have tossed lighters into the bottom of our lake. They are over there._" She pointed to a spot near the edge of the lake. I couldn't exactly see the lighters, but I could sense them. There was definitely something there. My sonar system activated.

I swam over to the spot that the nymphs had pointed me to, and picked up discarded lighters. I tried turning one on and the tiny flame emitted from the thing. I grinned and went over to the Hydra. Then I proceeded to burn the Hydra's heads.

Not to confuse you readers, I left some heads on the beast because I felt like it. Besides, it gave up on trying to hurt me. Maybe monsters did have feelings?

When I finished burning most of the heads, which took a long time because I had to keep holding on to the lighter, and my sword, and the monsters head.

"_Son of Poseidon_," one of the naiads mused. "_There hasn't been one since Winston Churchill._"

I nodded. "_Sorry about ruining your day's. It was the only thing I could think of_."

"_It is alright, Percy Jackson. Well, you'd better be on your way_."

I had a feeling that they wanted to get rid of me as soon as possible, despite the fact that they said they didn't blame me for ruining their day.

I make a quick departure and continued west.

Then one month later I was being harassed by a Phoenix. In the present, the little Phoenix was nipping at my duffel bag. I was swatting at it like it was a fly.

"I said, _please_go away you stupid bird," I said. It continued to peck at my bag. "Okay, that's it. I've played Mr. Nice Guy for too long." I pulled out sword and uncapped it. Three feet of celestial bronze sprouted from the pen.

I stabbed at the creature's wings and sliced a part off of its wing. It screeched and flew off into the air. It was unbalanced so it went up and curved back down in an arc, crashing into the ground. I couldn't help but chuckle at the creature's misery. Payback sucks. I stopped laughing, though, when it rose up and stared at me.

It's red eyes seemed to pulse and I immediately got a warning. I backed up slowly as the Phoenix rose to its full height. It stretched its wings out to the side and it seemed to glow in the sun. The rays of light shone into the Phoenix and for a second, it looked majestic and proud. Then...it looked angry...really angry.

"Sancto Neptune erat," I said in...Latin? But I had no time to think about that. The Phoenix started flying toward me, its wing seemingly fixed from all damage. "O mi deos! THEOI! THEOI! DEOS!"

The raven was fast, no doubt about it. It was why I was yelling "Gods!" in Latin and Greek. It was also why I was running like a maniac. I leaped across a creek like some athlete doing a long jump in the Olympics. I landed on the other side and nearly twisted my ankle. The raven screeched and soared back up into the sky. But it didn't fly away. It circled around in the sky, looking scared of where I was.

I turned around only to see a ghost town. Ahead of me was a two-lane road half covered with sand. On the other side of the road was a cluster of buildings too small to be a town: a boarded-up house, a taco shop that looked like it hadn't been open since before the gods were born, and a white stucco post office with a sign that said GILA CLAW, ARIZONA hanging crooked above the door. Beyond that was a range of hills…but then I noticed they weren't regular hills. The countryside was way too flat for that. The hills were enormous mounds of old cars, appliances, and other scrap metal. It was a junkyard that seemed to go on forever.

I frowned when I thought about why the Phoenix would be scared of a ghost town and a junkyard, but I was still glad. At least it wouldn't harass me anymore.

I walked into the junkyard and was immediately amazed by the thrown out items. Piles of metal objects glinted in the sunlight: broken heads of bronze horses, metal legs from human statues, smashed chariots, tons of shields and swords and other weapons, along with more modern stuff, like cars that gleamed gold and silver, refrigerators, washing machines, and computer monitors.

I saw a Greek Eta on one of the thrown out automatons. Eta...eta...junkyard...automatons... Hephaestus! This was the Junkyard of the Gods. I marveled at the wonderful things that had been thrown out. Some deserved to be thrown out, but some were in perfectly good shape. Most of the shields and swords and weapons were in good shape, not damaged and shone in the brilliant light of the sun.

I continued travelling through the yard and found a sweet electric guitar. I couldn't help but pick it up. It was really cool. The sounds of each strum echoed through the hills of junk and bounced back at me. It was like I was playing at a concert or something except that I didn't know any guitar chords.

I continued until I finally sat the end of the massive junkyard. The weird and creepy thing was ten giant column-like things packed tightly together in the largest mountain of junk. That last mountain was at least the size of a football field and as tall as the goal posts. I had a very bad feeling about this, but I went to check out the mountain of garbage anyways. I pulled some junk off of the size of the mountain and saw giant pieces of metal sticking out of the pile. I scooped some more junk away and found more pieces of metal sticking out. I realized that they were fingers. I looked back to the giant column-like things and realized that they were feet.

"Ah, Talos," said a man from behind me.

I whirled around, uncapped my sword and activated my switchblade. When I saw who I was talking to, I almost barfed.

"Quick," the man said. "You're like a fleshy automaton."

I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult, but considering who it was, it was probably a compliment. "Um, Hephaestus."

The god grunted and his bear burst into flames. I took in his appearance. His shoulders were at different heights as if someone had broke his shoulders or something. The left shoulder was lower than the right He had a huge, bulging, misshapen head and his left leg was in a steel brace. His hair was brown and grew wild. Though his terrifying form, he had a lot of muscles, probably from working in the forge for so long.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as he threw some junk from his arms away.

"Um... I was just passing by here."

Hephaestus grunted again. "Good enough for me. Now you'd better be leaving. You don't want Talos to crush you."

"What?"

"Talos." He pointed to the largest mountain of garbage. "Well actually, this is a malfunctioning prototype of Talos, but if you take something from this junkyard, this giant protects it. I don't think you can run away from this beast, can you?"

"No."

"Exactly." He rubbed his beard and tossed the last bits of his garbage into the mountain of junk. "Humans can't evade this Talos prototype. Automatons would do much better. Anyway, you better be going. Head to Hoover Dam. You'll get your next challenge there."

I looked at him suspiciously. "How did you know that?"

"He's very overprotective of you which makes him expose his secrets a lot," Hephaestus explained. "You should have seen him when you were facing that Hydra. Had a heart attack. Naturally, my father and mother are both mad at Poseidon for siring you, but it's too late. Oh well."

I kind of felt grateful that Poseidon cared about me so much, but I didn't want him to have a heart attack...even if he wouldn't die.

"Well," said the god of the forge, "I must be going now. Avoid Talos." And with a flash, he disappeared.

I stared at the pile of junk that covered the prototype of Talos and couldn't help but get the feeling that I'd be back...much sooner than I would think.

And with that, I exited the Junkyard of the Gods, throwing away a plastic statue of a god that I thought was pretty cool.

* * *

**THIS. CHAPTER. SUCKED. SORRY.**

**Hey everyone,**

**This is just an experiment. It is probably going to suck. ****I know, it has been done before, bla, bla, bla...** But I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing. Plus, vote on the poll.

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	11. Welcome to Nevada

**Hey everyone,**

**Thanks to all of the people who voted in my poll to see who Percy "meets." Now, there is a new poll. I do lots of thinking and planning ahead so I would like to know if people want this to the first in a series of stories or just one final story. If you readers want a sequel, it would go in the order of Sea of Monsters, Titan's Curse etc. However, it will not be like TTC: Perlia or the BotL: Perlia because there are some major changes in the story. Please go to my profile page to vote. Thanks once again.**

**Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thanks to all who reviewed in the previous chapter:**  
**CourtingTheMoon, bluelotus1670, jenn008, FaTaLClanWii, Bartimaeus12, Guest, DeathmatchDrunkard, LyingThurth123 & Empty Thoughts.**

**Answering questions:**

bluelotus1670 - Yes

Bartimaeus12 - He hasn't done any of the challenges he actually faces in the real series

Guest - About the feeling, yes. About the second question, I can't answer that.

DeathmatchDrunkard - He isn't really playing guide. In the Titan's Curse, they only went to those places by accident. It'll just be different because Percy had been to the places before and is not more aware.

Empty Thoughts - Private Messages

**I never expected this many people to actually look at my story. I know I haven't posted in a while. I've just been thinking about what to do next and how to make things more subtle than before. I mean, I've written some pretty obvious foreshadowing and I feel that foreshadowing should be subtle, although because I am writing about a previously published book series, that's kind of hard to do. But don't think I'm taking days to write three thousand words with the amount of free time I have now (which is a lot). I have just been thinking. I am glad to see many who like my story. But as school starts to begin again, my free time starts melting away and I have less time to write. If I don't post for quite a few days, just be patient. I'm not going to update an author's note saying that I will be updating in _ days. Or say that "I'm almost done" because that would be a waste of your time. Patience is key, but I still thank you all for reading-and for some, liking-my story. It means a lot.****  
**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Περσεύς 11**

**Welcome to Nevada**

"Efharisto Adi theios. Mou aresei poly Erinyes," I said in modern Greek. "At least they're not looking at me right now."

Up in the air, hundreds of feet-and falling-were three bat-like creatures with leathery wings and really ugly faces. I couldn't exactly see it from where I was, but I swore that their eyes were glowing a maniacal red. They probably had claws, like every monster I had faced so far, and razor-sharp teeth that could tear me to shreds in a split second.

"Erinyes," I repeated, "Furies."

From my personal knowledge, the Furies were servants of Hades and only obeyed his orders. They were also demons and there were three of them: Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera. I also knew that they were feared by many demigods, and were not easily killed. What else...oh yeah. I almost forgot. If they got their hands on me, I was dead fish. No offense, but dead meat is more Hera's thing, since one of her sacred animals is the cow. Maybe one of the gods' sacred animals is a pig (not a boar, a pig), or a chicken. But if one or both of those is one of the gods' sacred animals, I had and still do not have a clue as to who it would be.

One weird thing that kept popping up in my head as the Furies circled above was that why wouldn't Zeus blast them back to Hades anytime they went into his domain. I mean, didn't Zeus like killing harmless-well, not in this case-living creatures. Apparently, lightning killed a lot of people in Florida every year. And New York was a large city where large buildings would attract lightning. Also, if Zeus was anything like he was in the myths, he was extremely temperamental. Like feed him human meat and he'd kill your entire family. Okay, okay, eating human meat is disgusting, but Zeus was the one to make the rule of not hanging around mortals too often so shouldn't the gods dislike humans? Or maybe Zeus is just power-hungry and inconsiderate to anyone he doesn't like. For example, anybody who isn't his child...except for the fact that he had like a gazillion kids. Now that I think about it, the only people who aren't Zeus' kids in the Olympian Council is my father, Hera and Demeter.

"He's definitely here," screeched one of the Furies. She had a flaming whip in her hand and her eyes were glowing red. _Yeah, I think that's Alecto._"Keep looking."

I dipped my head under once again so that the only part visible of me was a small patch of jet black hair and sparkling sea-green eyes. I was in the river on the southwest side of the Hoover Dam willing the currents to keep me in this position. I was being unfair because although I needed power and strength to keep the currents flowing at my will, I was in the water which kept feeding me energy. _Hey, look. I'm recycling. Now I just need to stop throwing candy wrappers and other junk on the ground._

The day was sunny and I was content. At the moment, I felt like I could relax for weeks in this position, looking at the sky. Then at night, I'd be able to see the sky and the faint stars sparkling in the shining sky. Actually, not really. Lights would be on at the Hoover Dam and would block me from seeing the stars in the sky. But what I found really weird was that pollution didn't really affect the ozone layer. Zeus controls the sky, right? Does he not control ozone? Ozone is in the sky, right? Unless those hippie looking people holding cardboard signs were wrong, I was sure that the ozone layer was controlled by Zeus. Then about global warming, that was just Demeter, right?

I had already met with my father and he gave me my next challenge. Weirdly, it had no due date, but just a: _Finish this as quick as possible._There didn't seem like there was anything fishy with what I had to do. All I needed to do was to grab a LotusCash Card and deliver it to my father. That didn't seem too hard. In fact, I wouldn't even have to fight any monsters except the hellhounds on the way and these annoying Erinyes.

"Hurry up and find that son of Poseidon," snarled Alecto. "Hades sent us to capture him and bring him to the palace. Look for him near the water. He should be close to his father's domain."

_Uh-oh_. I fully submerged and swam to the bottom of the river. The Furies were my only obstacle between the Hoover Dam and Las Vegas. I needed to hitch a ride because I was way too young to drive and I didn't feel like walking for a couple of days.

I took a deep breath and looked around. Nothing was here besides the dam's vents. The water was completely empty without any naiads or anything. This was the first time that I had found a body of water without any water spirits lurking around. However, I did hear a rumbling sound. It was coming from the dam, like there were turbines inside of it.

I swam up to the surface as quiet as I could and poked my head out, swiveling it like a periscope. There were no signs of the Furies. I stood...or rather, treaded water for a couple more minutes staying as still as I could possibly be. There was still nothing.

"Time to test my luck," I said to myself, and climbed out of the river.

* * *

It took me a whole hour, but I finally found a path that led up to the top of the Hoover Dam. As I climbed up the path, I held onto my pen, Riptide, just in case one of the Furies spotted me. A few times I stumbled as I climbed up and dropped my pen-sword, and then Riptide would fly down the mountain like a mudslide except for the fact that it was the only thing tumbling down the hill. I had a few experiences with losing my pen, but thankful for its magic to always appear in my pocket, I could never actually _lose_my awesome sword.

Sure enough, when I reached the road at the top of the Hoover Dam, my pen-sword was in my right jean pocket. Its magic was one of the reasons why I used my sword more often than my switchblade. Unlike Riptide, the switchblade didn't have any magical qualities and I would lose it if I dropped it so I always kept it in my pocket unless I needed it.

I had named my switchblade Triametalla, which was basically Greek for "three metals," the three metals being silver, bronze, and steel. I always wondered what it would be like if I had gold on the dagger which would've been really cool. But at the moment, I needed to worry about my transportation problem.

I walked back toward the middle of the dam. I gaped at the sight of being at the top of the Hoover Dam. On one side of the dam was large lake surrounded by empty, brownish-red mountains. On the other side of the dam was air. There was a drop of what seemed like a gazillion feet down to the river below. I knew I was the son of Poseidon, but I wasn't going to push my luck...well, my _lack_of luck. Either way, the Hoover Dam dropped off almost vertically seemingly like the world's most-dangerous skateboard ramp. Oddly enough, peering down to the river wasn't scary. Heights had never scared me although my dad's enemy was the lord of the sky. I had never figured out why, and I didn't intend to find out.

I looked toward the far end of the dam and saw a plaza-like area where two statues stood. Tourists were all lined up at the statues' feet like they were sending a prayer. The statues looked like metal angels sent from Mars, although they looked like they were created by Athena, goddess of architecture.

A gust of wind seemed to form out of nowhere and cold air was blasted at me. _Zeus_. It wasn't too cold, but it wasn't summer so the cold air gave me the chills. A tingling sensation travelled through my body and I shivered. I felt goose bumps starting to grow on my arms even though they were covered by my hoodie.

I wanted to yell at Zeus to stop hating on me, but I guessed that would be disrespectful so I settled for a glare and scowl into the heavens.

I walked into the visitor center and was grateful for the warm air inside. It was so nice and cozy that my teeth were chattering like crazy. _Gods damn it Zeus!_More cold air was blasted in my face. I grumbled and continued walking.

Before I knew it, I found myself at a snack bar where a whole bunch of kids were eating. It was jam-packed and noisy as the kids yelled at each other about stealing food and whatnot. I scanned the place for any empty seats because I had a long journey from the Junkyard of the Gods.

I noticed a group of tourists following this tour guide. She looked like a park ranger with long, curly black hair pulled back into a ponytail. She had tinted glasses on her face and was cheerfully sprouting facts about the Hoover Dam like "the Hoover Dam is exactly seven hundred twenty six point four feet from foundation rock to the roadway on the crest of the dam" and "this elevator will take us seven hundred feet down."

When the group of tourists was ushered down a hallway by the tour guide, the tour guide hesitated like she'd noticed something weird. For example, those weird chills that I kept getting. Oh wait, I forgot, only I would feel it because Zeus hates anybody who is not his kid. The tour guide turned around and took off her glasses. They were stormy gray, like thunder clouds except without the lightning and thunder. As she locked her gaze onto me, the goose bumps on my arm grew and my skin tingled.

The tour guide had sort of a proud face, like she loved to be right. Yes, she seemed to hold anger in her eyes, like she was mad at me for stealing candy or something. Her head cocked to one side and stared at me...how do I say this...curiously? It got too weird and I turned away. When I looked back, she was gone and my goose bumps melted off my arm.

* * *

Ten minutes after the weird tour guide thing, I had found my way how to get out of the Hoover Dam and get to Las Vegas.

There was this tour bus that went between the Hoover Dam and Las Vegas. Well, actually, there were a few tour buses that traveled between the Hoover Dam and Las Vegas each leaving and arriving at different times. I figured that I could sneak onto the bus and get to Las Vegas. Then I could go to the Lotus Hotel and Casino, grab a LotusCash Card and then meet my father at an _undisclosed_ location. I had no idea what _undisclosed_meant, but it had closed in it so I guessed it meant a secret location.

The next bus was to leave in a couple of minutes and I had been told that the tour group had went into the dam in one big group. That made it so much easier to sneak on. I stood looking down at the river seven hundred feet below, watching as it wound and twisted around the desert rocks and out of my sight. I went over to the other side of the dam and peered over. Only about thirty feet down was the lake calm and peaceful, but surrounded by large, empty mountains.

I looked to my right and a large group of people where shuffling through the exit of the visitor center. _There they are_. I let the group of mortals pass first, wanting to stay in the back so that no one would notice me until they were comfortable in their seat. Speaking from experience, I knew mortals never paid attention to details. If I had walked right in front of the group, I would've gained some weird looks, but if I joined the back, the people would assume that I was just hidden in the back of the group the entire time. At least, that was what I hoped would happen.

The last members of the group passed and I stepped in line with the group. I took two more steps when I felt the strange goose bumps. I looked down at the lake and put my hand out. A small portion of the water began splashing and flowing at my will. An eerie chill blew through me shirt and I spun, holding my hand out in front of me. Water erupted from the lake-though not a lot-and splashed right into the Furies chasing me.

I turned around to start running away, but the Fury on the far left started beating her wings like magical paddles and flew after me. Her glowing red eyes seemed to look straight into my soul and she glared at me like I had murdered someone. She bared her fangs and swiped her claws at me. The claws cut a portion of my cheek and I knew I was bleeding. I quickly uncapped Riptide and used the hilt to smash the Fury's head. She wailed and tumbled to the pavement. I turned slightly to the right and saw another Fury coming after me.

I rolled as she swiped her claws at me. I jumped back up and had to fall back down to avoid another strike. My left arm hit the pavement with a loud _thud!_"Ow!" I hissed, clutching my left arm. It really hurt.

The third Fury had caught up by now and she held a fiery whip in her right claw. "We didn't want to hurt you, Percy Jackson, but you have forced us to. _He_just wanted a little talk."

"Who's _he_?" I said, still pointing my sword at who I thought was Alecto. I glanced behind me to see if I had a chance for a quick escape. I didn't because one of the Furies, maybe Megaera, was standing right behind me glaring at me just like the first Fury, most likely Tisiphone, had. I looked past Megaera. The bus was loading passengers, and I knew I didn't have much time left. Out of the tour group, about one-third had entered the bus.

"Hades," Alecto answered. "He only wanted to talk." I wasn't sure, but I thought I heard disappointment in her demonic voice. "So now if you just let us take you there like you're a prisoner, all will be fine."

I tried lunging at Alecto with my sword, but the Fury behind me grabbed onto my right arm at the last second. Alecto sneered, "Hold him still Megaera." She turned around. "Tisiphone, get over here!"

The first Fury that I hit with my sword hilt was growling, but she was still clutching her head. "Stupid son of the sea god," she muttered.

"Disarm him," Alecto ordered Tisiphone. Despite the fact that I was getting taken prisoner by the Furies, I kind of felt proud that I knew which Fury was which. I only felt proud because I had gotten made fun of that I was stupid when I was young and that fact kind of got to me. So anytime I got something right, I felt proud of myself.

"I hate celestial bronze," said Tisiphone as she threw my sword into the lake. "Demigods have tried to kill us with that cursed metal for too long."

"But they can't kill us, can they?" said Alecto. "No, because all demigods are too weak and afraid of us. Megaera, let go of his hands, but keep a hold on his shoulders. We don't want him to get away, do we?"

"Of course not," replied Megaera. Tisiphone and Alecto were smiling at me viciously, like they were about to eat me. I could only guess that Megaera was doing the same thing behind me. I couldn't see her because she was always right behind me and would move if I turned. But I could still see the bus. The last bit of people were getting onto it. My time was coming to an end. I looked out to the lake where Tisiphone had thrown my sword. It looked kind of beautiful, and maybe going for a swim in there wouldn't be so bad...sorry, ADHD.

Suddenly, my right pocket felt heavier, like something was put in there. _Like my pen!_

Alecto flapped her wings. "Let's go and-"

I interrupted her by elbowing Megaera in the stomach, uncapping my sword and slicing Megaera like she was a piñata. With a wail and a hiss, she dissolved into a delicious gold dust that tasted much better than candy. I spun and kicked Tisiphone with the bottom of my foot. I nailed her in the head. She grabbed her face and I raised Riptide for the kill. Just as I was about to hack downward, something hot and burning wrapped around my right wrist. I let out a cry and my sword clattered to the ground. I realized that Alecto had used her whip against me. I felt my skin turning red and starting to burn. I quickly grabbed Riptide with my left hand and stabbed Tisiphone through the heart. She too dissolved with a wail and a hiss.

I turned only to get punched in the face by Alecto. She grabbed onto my left arm and dug her claws into it. I kicked my feet, but Alecto held her grip. I watched as the third to last person boarded the bus. I screamed and protested, but Alecto just growled into my face.

"I could kill you right now," she hissed. "But I can't as Poseidon would get angry at Hades. However, you have caused a great deal of pain for yourself. If you had not fought, I would not have to do this." She took the whip off of my right hand and I took that split second opportunity to make a move.

I punched Alecto in the gut with my right hand, although it probably didn't hurt because my right wrist was smoking like I had lit my hand on fire without burning my skin. I grabbed Riptide, smashed it against Alecto's leathery-looking skull and ran as her right claw lost its grip on my left hand. I was in a great deal of pain, but I kept moving. Just before I entered the bus, where the bus driver was waiting on the last passenger to climb up the steps-it was a senior so he was having some trouble-I turned back to Alecto. She was clutching her head, and was about to look up. Before she could do anything though, I took advantage of my magic sword and threw it like a javelin. Luckily, I was good at that and the last thing Alecto saw before exploding into golden dust was a celestial bronze sword hurtling at her face.

I quickly pulled up the hood of my hoodie and helped the senior up the stairs.

"You alright?" the bus driver asked.

"What?" I responded.

"You're bleeding," he said.

"I...uh...fell," I replied.

He opened his mouth and I prepared myself for another question, but the bus driver just shook his head and said, "Find a seat. We're heading back to Las Vegas."

I quickly found a seat trying to avoid any attention that I was receiving, and stared out of the window. Slowly, the Hoover Dam started disappearing from my view and I opened my duffel bag. I took a bite of some of the ambrosia that I had. I felt the bleeding stop and most of the pain fade. I sighed and relaxed into my seat. My heart was pumping and adrenaline was coursing through my veins. I was kind of glad that the Furies had come. Getting attacked might kill you, but when you win, it's a lot of fun.

"Lotus Hotel and Casino," I said, "here I come."

* * *

**"Efharisto Adi theios. Mou aresei poly Erinyes" is modern Greek (at least, the best I could find) for "Thanks Uncle Hades. I really like Furies." And yes, when I say Erinyes, I do mean Furies. Erinyes is just the Greek way of saying Furies. I know this is not the best chapter, but for the content that is in this chapter, I think that it is actually pretty good. I must apologize if I am making Percy seem too mature, but honestly, I don't know how the story would be if I wrote like a seven year old...actually, visit some of the shorter stories on Fanfiction, then you'll know. But I prefer to actually make my story decent rather than stupid.**

**Hey everyone,**

**This is just an experiment. It is actually going pretty well. ****I know, something similar has been done before, bla, bla, bla...** But I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing. Plus, vote on the poll.

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	12. The Lotus Hotel and Casino

**Hey everyone,**

**Thanks to all of the people who voted in my poll to see who Percy "meets." Now, there is a new poll. I do lots of thinking and planning ahead so I would like to know if people want this to the first in a series of stories or just one final story. If you readers want a sequel, it would go in the order of Sea of Monsters, Titan's Curse etc. However, it will not be like TTC: Perlia or the BotL: Perlia because there are some major changes in the story. Please go to my profile page to vote. Thanks once again.**

**Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thanks to all who reviewed in the previous chapter:  
****jenn008****,**** CourtingTheMoon, percywolf221 (Guest), DeathmatchDrunkard, murdrax, LyingTruth123, & alan (Guest).**

**I have reached 100 reviews...Wow! Thanks to all who reviewed, favorited/alerted, blah, blah, blah. This chapter wasn't too hard to write. I kind of enjoyed writing this at certain points. I do try my best to make the story not boring and actually enjoyable to read. Thanks for reading this and I wish you all a happy 2013. Gracias y de nada.**

**Con vistas mejores,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Περσεύς 12**

**The Lotus Hotel and Casino**

The worst part of the bus ride was sitting.

It wasn't a very long ride, though with my ADHD it felt like forever. The other people on the bus were all talking about the Hoover Dam and all of its 'wonderfulness.'

Like I had hoped, no one really paid attention to me. I got a few curious stares my way, but otherwise it was like I was with the group the entire time.

There were some kids on the tour bus, no older than me, but they seemed to be a lot happier than I was. I was a couple thousand miles away from my home and birthplace, fighting off monsters, living on the streets, and stealing from stores (I still kind of wished I was a descendant of Hermes). These kids were probably on vacation with their family getting to check out the Hoover Dam and have fun. I longed for that fun, but because I was Poseidon's son, I was involved in the Greek world.

Sometimes I wished I wasn't born, and then I wouldn't have to go through all of this mess. Sometimes I tried to fit in with normal mortals, but I was a stranger, and most kids I ran into were bullies. Then some of those kids were in the illegal business of drugs and alcohol at young ages. Just so you know, I was running into teenagers, not kids my age. Kids my age would usually be playing basketball with their friends.

"First stop, New York - New York Hotel," the bus driver said.

I looked out the window and saw a hotel named New York - New York. The main building in the front was much smaller than the architecture behind it which, I guess, was meant to represent the beautiful New York skyline which I hadn't seen in person for years. Back to the front of the hotel, a much smaller version of the Statue of Liberty stood. There was also a rollercoaster between the main building and the skyline.

This was definitely not the Lotus Hotel and Casino. So I waited.

We stopped at MGM, Monte Carlo, the pyramid, Paris, that hotel with that fountain...Beluga Whale? No, that doesn't make sense. Anyway, we also passed this pirate ship, Caesar's Palace - yeah, Caesar as in salad - but the furthest north I went was this hotel called Win...or Wyn, or Wynn.

When I reached that last hotel, I turned around and just toured around the area. The streets were packed and smoke was everywhere. People had cigars and cigarettes in their mouths and blew the horrible smelling smoke into the air. To add onto that, cars were stuck in traffic making everything dirtier. It was a pretty hot day and because Las Vegas was like in a desert, everything just seemed hotter.

Pictures flashed on large screens, the words moving too fast for me to see. From the pictures, I could tell that woman were taking off almost all of their clothing. Cards were littered on the streets, pictures of other women holding metal poles in bikini-like clothing. Trucks passed by, pictures of guns on them. If there were such things as celestial bronze bullets, I would totally steal some of those guns and shoot monsters with them.

I took a few turns and made a few circles, but I eventually ran into a dead end with a hotel in front of me. The entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting up and blinking. No one was going out, but the glittering doors were open, spilling out air-conditioning that smelled like flowers. I breathed in and sighed as the beautiful smell of the flower entered my nose.

I looked up and smiled. In large, bright letters were the words LOTUS HOTEL AND CASINO. Like they would say in casino's: _Jackpot!_

At the front entrance was a smiling doorman, welcoming and greeting all customers who went in. I didn't see anybody coming out so I guessed that this hotel was pretty popular. I walked toward the doors and the doorman smiled. "Welcome to the Lotus Hotel and Casino. Come in and take a rest. You look tired."

As I registered his words, the feeling of staying on the streets and in wild forests and deserts came rushing back to me like a flood and all the exhaustion poured into my body. My senses dulled and I nodded, a little droopy. I tried to keep myself awake as I entered the casino, but it wasn't hard at all. As soon as I caught sight of the lobby, my jaw dropped and my eyes widened.

The lobby was one giant game room, but it wasn't just full of games. Sure there were tons of video games, each one the size of a widescreen TV, consisting of every type of game imaginable, but there was also an indoor waterslide snaking around the glass elevator, which went straight up at least forty floors. There was also a climbing wall on the side of one building, and an indoor bungee-jumping bridge. The place was so big, that even though there seemed to be thousands of people here, a lot of the games were empty. Waitresses and snack bars were located everywhere, serving every kind of food you can imagine.

"Hey!" a bellhop said. At least I guessed he was a bellhop. He wore a white-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key."

"Room key?" I asked, puzzled. "But-"

"Oh, no," he interrupted, as if he knew what I was going to ask. "The bill's taken care of. You don't need to pay anything. Your room is, unfortunately, _not_on the top floor, but you're right below it. Room 3907. Lucky you, you're right next to a couple of kids about your age. Just call the front desk if you need anything." He pressed the button for the elevator and the doors dinged open. He pressed the button for the thirty-ninth floor and put a green plastic credit card in my hands. "And here's your LotusCash Card. Works on all the games and rides and in the restaurants. Have fun." And the doors shut.

As soon as the elevator lifted from the ground, I kicked the metal doors. I had what I needed, but I needed to get out. I was very uncomfortable in the elevator. It wasn't small by any means, but I just hated confined spaces.

I turned around and looked out of the elevator. A black haired kid zoomed past me in the waterslide, screaming in delight as it brought him winding down. I saw the games and other cool things that I could try, like the climbing wall or the bungee-jumping bridge. It all looked so fun and... no! I was here to pick up...pick up...what was I supposed to pick up?

I looked back at the LotusCash Card. Something lighted up in the back of my head, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. The doors dinged again, revealing the door to room 3901. I looked at the sign and read that room 3907 was to my right.

I walked right and opened the door to my suite. My jaw dropped for the second time that day.

It was a suite with one giant bedroom and a bar stocked with candy, sodas, and chips. A hotline to room service. Fluffy towels and a water bed with feather pillows. A big-screen television with satellite and high-speed Internet. The balcony had its own hot tub, and there was a skeet-shooting machine and a shotgun, so you could launch clay pigeons right out over the Las Vegas skyline and plug them with your gun. I didn't see how that could be legal, but I thought it was pretty cool. The view over the Strip and the desert was amazing, though I doubted I'd ever find time to look at the view with a room like this.

I'd seen all of these things in shops and stores, but I never actually gotten to use them legally and without blowing the store up in less than a minute after I entered.

"This. Is. Awesome!" I marveled, still staring in awe at my suite. There was more nagging in the back of my head, and I definitely knew it had something to do with my LotusCash Card. Maybe it was telling me to go play.

"First things first," I said. "Time to shower."

* * *

I didn't have the pleasure to take nice showers because I was waterproof. And if I tried to get myself wet in lakes and ponds and rivers and streams, all I would accomplish is getting all of my stuff wet including myself. It wouldn't exactly be cleaning myself, rather than drenching myself with water. That was why it felt so nice to take a shower.

I found a change of clothes in one of the closets which, weirdly, was my exact size. After I changed, I opened my duffel bag and face palmed. I still had clean clothes in my duffel bag (I got some naiads to clean my clothing when I was in Texas).

Shrugging, I turned on the TV and flipped through a whole bunch of channels. I stopped on Cartoon Network and watched it for a few minutes while eating tons of bags of chips and drinking more bottles of Coke than I could remember. It felt good to finally eat to my stomach's content, inhaling the food like air.

After I turned off the TV, I went out to the balcony, threw a clay pigeon in the air and blasted a shotgun shell at it. The clay pigeon blew up into a million pieces and I almost fell from the force of the gun. "Awesome!" I yelled down the side of the hotel.

I didn't stay doing that and went to the water bed. I collapsed onto it and stared at the ceiling. "So what now?" I asked myself. "Sleep?" I turned my head to the left and glanced at the green plastic credit card sitting on the nightstand. I grinned. "No. Play time."

* * *

This hotel was amazing. Even before I ran away, I came from a poor family and the only vacations we had were to Montauk in a rental cabin. A five star hotel in Las Vegas? Forget it.

I bungee-jumped the lobby at least four times, and climbed the wall ten times. I went on the waterslide three times, snowboarded the artificial ski slope, and played virtual-reality laser tag. I also played FBI sharpshooter. There was also this cool game where you're fighting in a virtual reality, but it's like this Ancient Greek theme where you're a hero and you have to fight monsters and stuff. There was this new technology for it where it had a full body sensor and all you needed to look into it was this special helmet that never fell off your head. Let's just say I topped the leader boards.

I was playing this old Japanese fighter thing where you used a joystick and four buttons - hard punch, light punch, hard kick, light kick - to control your 2D character. If you clicked this button on top of the joystick, your character could jump over your opponent and attack him from behind.

I was beating everyone at the game. All the people I played against were usually around fourteen, but after a while, a young boy, maybe eight or nine came up to the joystick. He was actually pretty good and it took a long five minutes to beat him. Usually the games were less than three, but this kid was awesome.

"Aw," he whined when I beat him. "I should've won. Now where's Bianca?"

The next guy came up to face me, a guy I already beat who was probably looking for a rematch. But I didn't want to. My curiosity urged me to help the little kid find 'Bianca.'

"I'm good for now," I said. "I might be back though."

The guy was looking at the screen and just grunted. The next person in the line went up to the machine and battled him. Their eyes stared at the screen, not moving, like if the game were to last forever, they wouldn't move from the machine at all.

I went up to the little kid who was staring around at the crowd. "Hey," I said and he turned around. "Who's Bianca? I can help you find her."

He stared at me with a...a..._curious_look. I took that moment to take in his appearance. He wore black army-looking pants, a black shirt with the map of Europe on it...with Italy colored, and a black hoodie. He wore regular sneakers, but they were black as well. If he were older he could've passed off as emo. He had shaggy black hair like mine, as if he'd just gotten out of bed, and olive skin and dark brown eyes, so dark that they almost looked black. His eyes seemed normal enough, but had this glint in them that seemed to mark him as a madman...er, madboy?

Then, his stare brightened, "Sure! I need help finding Bianca! She's my sister!" The way he spoke of her reminded me of the way my mom had spoke to me. Caring, loving, like a family.

With a sad look in my eyes that I tried to get rid of, I said, "Sure. Where do you think she could be?"

"Well, the last time I saw her was when we were at the bungee-jump area," he said. "I wanted to try it, but Bianca said no, and then when I kept asking, she eventually said yes. Then I went on it two times before Bianca said I couldn't go on it anymore. Then I ran around and found a whole bunch of games, and there was this one where you were fighting zombies, and it's so cool how they came back from the dead, and-"

"Whoa!" I put up a hand to stop him from yapping on. "Go back to where you last saw her."

"Bungee-jump area," he replied.

"Did she follow you?"

"I don't know. I wasn't looking at her when I ran off to the cool zombie game where I shot them and then more came and then more, and more, and more, and-"

"Yeah. I get it."

I was walking around with a kid not much younger than me looking for someone I only knew the name to. The kid and I walked around in silence for the next few seconds. I broke the ice.

"What's your name?"

"Nico di Angelo," he responded. I looked at his shirt and figured 'di Angelo' was Italian, though I wondered if there was such a thing as an angel of darkness.

"Alright, and what does your sister look like?" I asked.

"She has black eyes, black hair, same skin as me, a green hat, and is about as tall as you," he said.

"Okay, now let's go and find-" Something green and black was moving quickly through the crowd in front of us, and I caught a glimpse of a small figure, about my height pushing its...rather, her way around. "I think I saw her."

"Bianca!" Nico yelled, and he took off.

I give the kid some credit. He was quick, but trying escaping from hellhounds and you'll see how fast you need to run to _try_to hide. I said try because when a hellhound catches your scent, you can never completely escape.

I caught up to him eventually, accidentally knocking over a couple of people. "Sorry!" I yelled as I ducked under a waitress' platter and rolled underneath the legs of another.

"Just a second, Nico," I said. "Hold up. Don't run too fast because I don't want to-"

_CRASH!_

Something, or _someone_, crashed into me sending me tumbling with the person a few feet to my right. The entire left side of my body hurt and the person who crashed into me now lay on top of me.

Nico rushed to my side. "Hey, Bianca!"

I looked up to see a girl about ten or eleven matching the exact description of what Nico said. She had black eyes, darker than Nico's, silky black hair kind of like a really soft dress spread all over the place, olive skin just like Nico and a green hat pulled down over some of her face like she was trying to hide herself. Her breath smelled of death and flowers, a weird, but oddly pleasant smell.

For a couple of seconds, she stared into my eyes, but quickly pushed herself off. "Nico! Stop running away from me like that. You had me scared. Do you know how hard it is to look after you?"

"Sorry, Bianca," Nico said with his head down. Bianca murmured something into ear. Nico shook his head. "He's not a stranger. He helped me find you. He's-"

"Percy." I stuck my hand out. "Percy Jackson."

She stared at me warily for second before taking my hand and hesitantly shaking it. "Bianca di Angelo."

Despite the ruckus we caused, nobody was standing around staring at us. Most were too busy laughing, eating, and playing video games. "Well," I said. "I'm glad you guys found each other. I'd better be going-"

"No," Nico stopped me. "Why don't you hang out with me and Bianca?"

Bianca turned to glare at her brother and I stared shocked at the little boy. _I_ barely knew him and he was asking if I wanted to hang out with them. Then again...I barely knew _him_and I helped him find his sister.

"Sure, why not," I replied.

Bianca pulled her little brother aside by his ear. "Ow! Bianca!"

She turned to me. "If you'll excuse me."

They went over to the side and Bianca looked like she was lecturing Nico about inviting strange green-eyed, black-haired ten-year old boys to hang out with them. Honestly, I really couldn't care less about hanging out with them. They were cool, but there were still tons of things to do and if the girl didn't let her brother do some of the things, I doubted that I could've done them as well.

Bianca and Nico came back to me. "It sounds alright," she said. "We'll hang out with you."

My head turned to them. "Really?"

"Why not?"

I shrugged. "So...what are we doing first?" Despite accepting the invitation to hang out, I still kind of felt weird hanging out with strangers. There was that feeling, though. That feeling that I could trust these two, and that feeling that they weren't monsters._ Probably mortal_, I reasoned.

"I don't know," Bianca answered.

Nico and I looked at each other, and somehow we were able to read each other's minds through our eyes. It kind of felt like telepathic communication, but different because I couldn't hear any words being spoken.

Bianca noticed us grinning at each other and she looked at us funny. "Oh no. That's not good."

* * *

"Oh my goodness." Bianca had her head in her arms. "I can't believe I'm hanging out with you two."

We were playing Dance Dance Revolution and probably embarrassing Bianca to the max. I knew I looked ridiculous and my dancing skills were as poor as my singing skills. Let's just say I sang like a dying walrus being eaten by laughing hyenas. Or...if there were any other annoying animals, feel free to substitute them.

An example of how bad I was...I was doing the Funky Chicken dance move to an Elvis song. Nico wasn't much better. All he was doing was jumping up and down like he was throwing a temper tantrum.

"Oh come on, Bianca," I said, out of breath. "It's - It's not that bad."

"Do you know _how_embarrassing this is?" she said exasperated. "Not to mention the singing contest you did earlier!"

Nico and I laughed as we walked off of the platform, the machine yelling "YOU FAIL!" over and over. "That was cool," Nico said, also out of breath. He and I high-fived.

"Ugh, boys," Bianca groaned.

"So" - I caught my breath - "so what are we doing next? We've done a lot of things."

"I feel like going up to my room and taking a shower," Bianca said. "I know I haven't been doing much, but I'm tired. We've been in here for a month and Nico hasn't slept since about three days ago. Then you arrive a few hours ago and we go through a whole bunch of silly games you continue to embarrass me with."

"Aw," Nico whined. "But I wanted to play FBI sharpshooter again."

"You can do whatever you want with Percy, Nico," she sighed. Bianca looked a little annoyed with Nico. I reflected back to earlier today when he blabbered on about what he did before I arrived and I sympathized with her.

"Yay!" Nico exclaimed.

"Actually, I'm sorry Nico, but Bianca's right. I do feel kind of tired and I could gladly drink some Coke and eat some chips," I replied. "I'll see you guys in a little bit."

"Okay," Nico smiled, though he looked disappointed that I couldn't stay with him to play.

We walked over to the elevators and pressed the button to call the elevator. "What room are you in?" I asked.

"3906," Bianca said.

"What a coincidence," I said. "I'm in room 3907."

"Well then, neighbor," said Bianca. "I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other then."

"Probably," I said. I grinned at her and she smiled back. Unlike the way she was before, hiding under her green hat, she seemed more open even after hours of embarrassing her. It was kind of nice hanging out with her...and Nico of course.

The elevator doors opened and we stepped in. More kids and teenagers flew past in the waterslide, screaming in delight, like the first dark-haired boy. I held onto my LotusCash Card and the feeling in the back of my head appeared once again. I rubbed the back of my head and closed my hand over the card.

"Are you okay?" Bianca asked. She must've noticed the rubbing of my head.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm sure."

Bianca gave me a concerned look, but I tried to ignore it. The truth was, I couldn't help but think that maybe I wasn't here to play. There had to be something. I tried shrugging it off like I did Bianca's concerned look, but it remained.

Sensing Bianca staring, I said, "I just need some rest. I'll be okay."

She nodded and the elevator doors opened. "Thirty-ninth floor," the elevator machine said.

Nico, Bianca and I stepped out of the elevator and we walked down the hall to our respective rooms. We stood at our doors and smiled at each other. "See you in a few minutes, neighbor," I said.

We both unlocked the doors to our suites at the same time, entered and shut our doors at the same time.

I flopped back on my waterbed, clutching my head, feeling like something inside was pounding on my skull. I took a deep breath and decided to get some fresh air.

When I got outside and looked out at Las Vegas, that's when I knew something was wrong. Unlike the way it had been when I arrived, it was much hotter than before...and there were streaks of lightning arcing in a jagged line down from the sky. But from the traffic below, it still felt like mid-day. Rain lightly fell down from the sky and the goose bumps I had always gotten when I felt something wrong, appeared.

After what felt like seconds, I heard a knock on my door.

I went to it and unlocked it. There stood Bianca and Nico in fresh and new clothes. I smelt a flower...was it poppy?

"So, did you have a nice rest?" Bianca asked.

I just stood there like an idiot, stunned. "Um...well..."

Bianca's look turned concerned again. "Are you still not feeling well? Do you need to rest some more?"

I stared straight in front of me. The weather outside was much different than the weather when I came in. My green plastic credit card still lay in my hand. The LotusCash Card...that I needed to get for my father as a part of a challenge! My father was...for a second, I had trouble remembering who my father was. Greek god of the seas. Poseidon. Bianca and Nico...I had to take them away from this place. It had to be cursed somehow. But...they were probably mortal.

I wanted so badly to help them escape from this place, but the best I could figure was that they were mortal and wouldn't see all of the monsters chasing after me. Plus the fact that I could barely survive myself meant that I couldn't take care of two other people.

"Percy? Percy?" Bianca's voice shook my out of my thoughts. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

I tried to think of a good lie. "Um...my father called front desk and he needs me. He works at...the Beluga Whale."

"Bellagio?" Bianca asked.

"Yeah, that one. And...he needs me there and...I'll be back in a few days. I swear. I would swear on the River Styx, but I-"

Thunder rumbled in the sky and I clamped my hands over my mouth. _Stupid, stupid, stupid._But unlike being suspicious, Bianca too seemed to have a sort of mind blank.

"Styx. It sounds familiar," she mumbled. "Styx...Styx..."

"Well, I better be going. See ya."

I turned to run to the elevator. I pressed the button and the doors dinged open. "Wait!" cried Nico. "Don't leave."

I stared at him with a sympathetic look. "I'll be back. I promise." The doors closed in front of my face and I went down thirty-nine floors. The doors to the lobby opened and I stepped out. I made quick, long paces toward the exit, determined to get out.

The Lotus bellhop stepped in front of me. "Hey again. Are you ready for the platinum card?"

"No." I kept my eyes on the exit.

"Shame." The guy sounded disappointed. "We just added a whole new floor for platinum card members."

I turned my eyes to take a glance at the platinum card. It looked tempting. All the games and food I could ever want for the rest of my life. But then I would forget about my dad, who he was, who I was. However, if I left, I would always remember Bianca and Nico, and the guilt of leaving them here in this hotel forever. But I needed to see the freak weather change. Even I was smart enough to realize when something was seriously wrong.

"I really appreciate the offer." I sounded much older, like I was sending a voice message through a phone. "But I need to go now."

The bellhop opened his mouth again, but I walked off before a sound could come out of his mouth. I walked out of the door and felt the heat burning at my skin. I walked out into the open and let the raindrops fall onto my skin.

Without realizing it, my duffel bag that I had not been carrying was now slung over my shoulder and full of my stuff.

I quickly walked to a newspaper stand and took a look at the date. I checked the year and sighed in relief as it was the same as when I had entered. But when I saw the month and day, my fingers went numb and I dropped the newspaper. A car drove by and whisked the newspaper away making it fly over top of the traffic in Las Vegas.

Now I realized why my father said that this was a challenge, and why there was no due date. When I had entered the Lotus Hotel and Casino, it had been March, in early spring. Now the date was August seventeenth. Five months after the entry into the casino...

And one day before my eleventh birthday.

* * *

**Say hello to Bianca and Nico! They're not going to appear for a while so you might as well say hi while they are here. Like you all know, the Lotus Hotel and Casino slows time inside of it and halts aging so if Percy stayed in there for any longer than he wouldn't turn eleven the next day. Also, I know that I have been posting about stuff that is in the books, but I will bring in different stuff. Just hold on until the peak of the ride and then everything will change from there.**

**Hey everyone,**

**This is just an experiment. It is actually going pretty well. ****I know, something similar has been done before, bla, bla, bla...** But I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing. Plus, vote on the poll.

**Question of the Chapter:**** How would you describe Hades?**

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**Con vistas mejores,  
SharkAttack719**


	13. I Am An Infinity-aire

**Hey everyone,**

**Thanks to all of the people who voted in my poll to see who Percy "meets." Now, there is a new poll. I do lots of thinking and planning ahead so I would like to know if people want this to the first in a series of stories or just one final story. If you readers want a sequel, it would go in the order of Sea of Monsters, Titan's Curse etc. However, it will not be like TTC: Perlia or the BotL: Perlia because there are some major changes in the story. Please go to my profile page to vote. Thanks once again.**

**Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thanks to all who reviewed in the previous chapter:  
jenn008, ASSASSIN OF ARTEMIS, FaTaLClanWii, Guest, therrius kane, DeathmatchDrunkard, May Salome Love, LyingTruth123, Guest, & Will (Guest).**

**Questions Answered:**

Guest who posted on 1/11/2013 - It could happen. I'm not really trying to emphasize that, but oh well.

May Salome Love - Percy isn't always the brightest...

Guest who posted on 1/13/2013 - Sister for your first question. Just something for the future for your second question. I'm not set on anything, for your last question.

**This chapter, I'm sorry to say, is not eventful. It's just what happens after the hotel and in my opinion, more of a filler chapter. There's more glimpses at other people and another talk with Poseidon, but other than that it is more of Percy's pondering. I'm sorry if I kind of made him smarter than he should be at that age. I know that he _is_ intelligent, but is very "obtuse" and I really kind of like putting my own opinion into this story so that is the reason why Percy seems different in this story than in the real book. Another thing is that I'm not actually that old which is why at times my writing seems...a little off. Apologies for any grammar mistakes in the following story.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Περσεύς 13**

**I am an Infinity-aire**

The thunderstorm was heavy, rain falling like bricks, lightning flashing and thunder booming like in those horror movies. My fingers still felt numb from the horror of the truth.

_Five-freaking-months_.

I stood there paralyzed. Cars and people walked on the streets, acting as if nothing had happened. Of course, they probably didn't know that they were near a casino that slows time down inside of it. They probably also didn't know that there were gods, so technically they weren't acting as if nothing had happened. They were unaware of the predicament I was in. _Huh. I sound kind of smart at the moment. Predicament_. _Sorry, not the time for this._

The LotusCash Card was clutched in my right hand. I turned back to face the hotel, looking up straight into the sky as the giant building rose forty stories into the clouds. I winced as I remembered Bianca and Nico, up there in the building, trapped forever. I couldn't save them. I was living a terrible life and couldn't bring them with me. What was I supposed to do? _Hey, let's get out of this casino. Oh, look. We're out of the casino. Bye. _Cue the walking away with haste.

I kicked the newspaper that had fluttered to the ground after I dropped it. What was I going to do now? I was stuck in Las Vegas with no destination whatsoever and no money. I felt like going and jumping into the Pacific Ocean, spending the rest of my life playing games with sharks and killer whales. At least down there I didn't have to pay for anything. And if I got hungry, I could always...well, there's the possibility I could...never mind.

"I'm such a failure," I muttered. I stuffed my hands in my pockets, feeling metal in both of them. I looked down and nearly jumped at the fact that my duffel bag was slung over my shoulder. I didn't remember taking it as I stormed my way out of the hotel.

I took a quick scan of my surroundings. Surprisingly, I felt stronger in this weather rather than weaker even though it was Zeus' domain. I figured that was because of the water. Like in Chicago many years ago, I was completely dry. It was probably why the newspaper didn't get wet until I let it drop to the ground.

I carefully reached into my bag and pulled out the slip of paper that I received at the Hoover Dam from Poseidon. _Let's see here. No due date, task was to grab a LotusCash Card from the Lotus Hotel and Casino, and checkpoint..._ I smiled. The checkpoint finally showed up. _Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino._

Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino...I was pretty sure that was south of the New York-New York Hotel and Casino. I sighed. I had a long way to walk. I stuffed my earbuds into my ears and hit play on my iPod. I couldn't give away too much information, but let's just say that the gods make things way before humans. Oh shoot! I just told you that I got it from a god. Which god do you ask? Well isn't it obvious? Yeah, I totally got this from my father, the god of the _sea_.

An old song that was a few years old started playing. The song was called Crawling by Linkin Park. I didn't know much about the band, but I knew they made music. They were pretty much the only music people I knew besides Elvis, Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson and Green Day. I didn't really listen to music often, only when I was bored.

Now let me tell you something. It's the calling that gets you killed, not the listening to music part, which was why I only got attacked fifteen times while listening to music. But I suppose that was more of my demigod scent. I loved the smell of the ocean, but I didn't want to know that I was like the ocean in flesh and blood form. I mean seriously, what would Apollo's kids smell like? The sun? What the heck does the sun smell like anyways?

Speaking of the sun, ten seconds into the song (which was completely instrumental so far), the rain started dying down, clouds moving away and the sun peaking out through the lightening sky. _Is Zeus having a hissy fit? First a lightning storm, now a clear sky._

The chorus of Crawling started and I winced. They reminded so much of...never mind. Forget I said anything. Yet the reminder of the _bad things_that happened in my life. Before all of this. Before monsters, before my father, before crazy things started happening, before I learned that I was illegal, before...when my mother was alive.

I felt tears spring into my eyes as the first verse started (yeah the chorus came first). It may have seemed like I hadn't cared much about my mother's death, but when she had died, I always refused to believe it and until Florida, I had refused to think about it and shut it off from my thoughts. As I got older and more mature, I know now that death is a part of life and whether your time is now or in the future, it will eventually come. I also know that when you love and care for someone who was the best person in the world, you wish that everything was black and like the Underworld because they're gone. I didn't let it get all the way to my head though. I had learned that my mother had gone to the Underworld, and because she could see through the Mist, and because she went to Elysium, she did not forget her memories. One day I would be able to see her...if there _is_a day in the Underworld.

I paused the music as I couldn't bear to listen to the awfully-accurate-to-my-life lyrics and put my earbuds and iPod into the duffel bag. I continued walking in silence listening to cars honking and people cursing all around me. It seemed so familiar to New York, yet so different at the same time. New York was a hustle-and-bustle city packed full of people and cars trying to get around whether it be for work or to go sightseeing. Las Vegas was a packed city full of casinos, poker, gambling, smoking and strippers, as I had learned in the Lotus Hotel and Casino. However, I think that casinos were only a part of Las Vegas just like how skyscrapers mostly resided in Manhattan rather than everywhere around New York. New York was also much more dreary than Las Vegas. I was pretty sure Zeus didn't send thunderstorms to Las Vegas too often. _Don't_correct me if I'm wrong.

I continued walking for what seemed like forever before I reached Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Unlike the Lotus Hotel and Casino, the doors weren't wide open, only opening and closing when the sensor sensed someone coming. Air conditioning blasted out of the hotel as the doors opened for a family of four. There was no doorman, but staff helping customers check in.

Without hesitation, I walked through the doors. If I were an adult, I would've wondered why there was an eleven year old boy was walking into a hotel all by himself. The mortal adults surrounding me, however, paid no attention to me and continued helping other customers.

"Okay," I said to myself, "I'm in Mandalay Bay Resort. What now?"

I looked at the sign in front of me. With my dyslexia, I had to squint to look at the words on the gold sign. To the left was the lobby and hotel rooms and check in desk. To the right was the Mandalay Beach entrance. Again, without hesitation, I turned right not wanting to get stuck in another hotel room. When my eyes turned right, I noticed a man speed walking, pushing a couple people out of the way gently. He had blue eyes and salt-and-pepper hair. He held a cell phone to his left ear which had two wriggly earthworms decorating the sides.

"Just hold on Iris," he said. As he got within the distance where I could hear him clearly, he said to me, "He's at the lazy river." He put the phone back to his ear. "Tell my dad that I need a break sometimes. I actually want to see my kids even if I'm not actually there. Especially Luke." He continued walking past me toward the bathroom. As soon as the door shut behind him, a golden light appeared through the cracks of the door and disappeared.

"Hey to you, too, Hermes," I waved to the place where he used to be. A fat and hairy man walked out of the bathroom and saw me waving in his direction. I stopped awkwardly and the hairy man gave me a reluctant wave in return. I put my hood up and stalked off to the Lazy River.

* * *

August was a pretty productive month for tourists. The Mandalay Beach was crowded, girls and guys everywhere, splashing each other with water.

"Let's see," I mused, "pool...pool...Jacuzzi...wave pool...ah, here! Lazy River!"

I stood at the edge of the "river" and waited for my dad to arrive. People were sitting in floating tubes, letting the water push them along. There was some kind of machine that pushed the water. It was too complicated for me to understand even though I knew the meaning of _predicament_, which in my case was a really challenging word.

_Not my dad...not my dad...not my dad...not my dad...and - whoa. _I found my dad alright. He was sitting in a green tube with dolphin swimming trunks, staring up into the sky, squinting. Small crinkles were clearly visible around his eyes and cheeks and he looked just like the way he had before except without a shirt. But the weirdest thing was that he was talking with mortals like he spent all of his time with them. They were laughing along with him, probably at some sort of joke that he said.

He looked up and caught my eye. He turned to his "friends" and said something, probably along the lines of 'I'll see you later.' His "friends" nodded and kept floating along when he got off of his tube and dunked himself into the water in front of me. He looked up at me, "Hello, Percy."

"Hey, dad."

"You made it!" he said, a smile flickering on his lips. In his eyes was a pride, a fiery pride, like I had done something amazing.

"Made it out of the casino?" I asked.

"Yes. I knew you would make it out of there."

I felt proud for a second, having your dad believe in you but it soon turned to anger. "After _five-freaking-months_!" I exclaimed. "Why couldn't you get me out of there faster? I almost missed my birthday!"

"You know it is not a god's place to interfere with their children on quests," he replied.

"That wasn't a quest! It was a challenge!" I said loudly. "To make matters worse, I made a couple of friends in there that I had to leave because I'm a demigod. I couldn't bring them along. I'm a failure!"

Poseidon raised an eyebrow at me. "Friends?"

"Yes," I hastily explained, not choosing my words carefully, "Bianca and Nico. They were good friends and I had to leave them because I needed to be out here. If I didn't go in there in the first place maybe I wouldn't have met those two mortals and become their friend."

My father's sea-green eyes darkened and his eyes turned away from me. "Bianca and Nico." Poseidon took a deep breath in and his eyes looked up toward the sky as if he was thinking of a lie or something. "Weird names. But I told you. This was a challenge. It wouldn't be much of a challenge if all you had to do was grab it and leave."

"Then why was the Crommyonian Sow so easy?"

"Because I helped you. This you needed to complete on your own."

"Just because I was eight you helped me? Do you think I'm not good enough to kill it on my own?" My words were getting reckless now, each word holding built up anger. I wanted to release it. It was not because I wanted to get angry at my dad, but because I couldn't contain things very easily. My dad also seemed to notice that.

"Alright, alright." He put a hand up to try and control me, which was not going to work. "Listen. If you really want the independence of handling everything on your own, I will give it to you. I will not give you any more challenges and you are free to roam around wherever you please."

I opened my mouth to say thanks, but a part of that sentence hit me. _Handing _everything_ on your own._ "Well," I started, "not _everything_. I can't handle _everything_on my own."

My dad nodded like he knew I was going to say that. "Responsibility is very important in becoming a good person. As widely known, 'The price of greatness-'"

"-is responsibility," I finished. "Mom used to tell me that whenever I got in trouble at school." I looked down at the ground.

I thought I saw a tear in my father's eye, but I had to be imagining. There was no way a god, especially as one as powerful as my father, would cry over the death of a mortal. Maybe thousands of years ago, but no longer. My dad washed his face with the "river" water, and his face turned back to its normal state: shining sea-green eyes, a black beard and an expression that was harder to understand than Ancient Greek. "Indeed. Another son of mine, Winston Churchill, said that. If you are ever in desperate need of help, I will be there for you, but as you get older, you should know that to become a great hero, you need to take responsibility."

"But what if I don't want to become a great hero? I just want to survive in honor of mom...and you."

"Sally was always humble," my dad smiled fondly. "But I guess you are right. It doesn't matter if you become a great hero or not. Despite that, you will always be mine. You are a true son of the sea god."

I smiled at my father, thankful for the praise.

He continued, "Do you have the card?"

I felt surprised for a second. I almost forgot about the LotusCash Card. "Wow, this conversation changed from the card to a quote from Winston Churchill who was my half-brother from World War II."

Poseidon let out a low chuckle and I grinned. I held out the LotusCash Card to my dad and he inspected it. "Looks alright. Valid. You're good to go. Have fun."

He placed the LotusCash Card back into my hand and started turning away. I stopped him. "Wait! That's it? I get it back? Where do I go? You don't really seem to care."

Poseidon turned around to face me. "Alright, I'm waiting. Yes, yes, you choose, and I trust your judgement."

"What do you mean 'I choose'?" I asked.

My father sighed. "Full of questions today, are we?"

"Sorry."

"It's fine. What I mean is that you can choose where you want to go. If you want to go back to New York, you can. If you want to go to Florida, you can. It doesn't matter to me."

"So...I could go roam the country fighting monsters while riding a unicycle and juggling two balls with my left hand and carrying a torch with my teeth?" I asked.

"Actually, I would prefer that you do something safe."

"And fighting monsters is safe?"

"You know what I mean."

I looked around. The sun was now shining brightly down on the earth, and even more people had come out to enjoy the sudden sunlight. I wasn't really one to plan ahead. I tried that once. What happened was that I blew up a McDonalds and then got chased by a drakon that was at least twenty times bigger than me.

"I guess I'll just go with the flow," I answered.

Poseidon smiled. "That's the best answer. After all, the sea does not like to be restrained."

"What's that thing where you can't be in a closed off space?" I blurted out randomly.

My dad blinked. "Claustrophobia? The fear of being in an enclosed space or having no escape from a box of some sort, like an elevator?"

"Yeah! That one. Is that why I have clause - claustropho - pho - claustrophobia? Because the sea does not like to be restrained?"

"Yes. Very much so."

I nodded in understanding. "Remind me never to get in a box."

My dad winked at me and started swimming away. "Maybe I will, maybe I won't." As he disappeared from sight, I couldn't help but wonder that if I ever got trapped in a box my own father might not help me out of the box.

* * *

That night I slept in a dumpster. Very clean, right? I was pretty sure that I was sleeping on some rotten food that was thrown out. I wasn't exactly sure but I knew the dumpster smelled like horse manure.

Despite the horrible smell, I managed to fall asleep. And of course, my dream had nothing to do with pink cotton candy clouds, rainbow ponies and unicorns so I wasn't exactly satisfied.

When the vision came into my head, the first thing I saw was a fire, a campfire. Two people were huddled around the fire, most likely trying to get warmth.

A boy with sandy-blond hair and blue eyes was on the right side of the fire, his hands spread out over it to heat it up in the seemingly cold night. The other person huddled around the fire was a girl with electric blue eyes and short, spiky black hair. Unlike the boy, Luke, who was wearing a faded CONNECTICUT shirt, a blue hoodie, a pair of faded but not torn jeans and blue sneakers, the girl wore clothes that seemed more like punk-rock clothing.

She had a black T-shirt with "Green Day" written across the front, a pair of black tattered jeans, and a leather jacket with buttons of bands that I didn't really recognize.

Both sat in front of the fire, the light reflecting off of their gloomy faces. Both of them had dirt and mud on their faces, and they both shivered once in a while, probably reacting to the cold. Luke's lip was bleeding, a drop of blood falling to the ground, though the two didn't react to it at all, as if it were a normal thing to be cut up and bleeding.

"I never want to back there again," the girl said.

Luke nodded. "Yeah. I know."

"Some could've at least gotten us out," said the girl.

"Relax Thalia," said Luke. "I'm sure everything will be fine." His voice was smooth and his face was blank, but I figured he was trying to be brave and lying.

"Do you remember how long we were in there?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Light flickered across Luke's face, showing that he had large bags under his eyes. He sighed. "Yes, of course I remember. At least we got out. If he didn't come, then we probably would've been stuck in there forever."

"Aren't you mad?"

"Of course. I'm just trying to survive now. There's no point in sitting here whining when we could easily go back to Chesapeake and not die."

"I suppose you're right."

"Aren't I always?" Luke flashed Thalia a faint smile. She smiled back at him.

Luke poked the fire with a stick. Then he looked up into the sky. "We'd better get some sleep. We still have a long way to go to get back."

"You got that right," Thalia responded.

I watched as they both climbed into their sleeping bags, falling asleep in the dark night.

The dream flashed and a new setting appeared in my eyes.

This was outside in the daylight. I didn't know exactly where they were, but the place was suburban, mostly houses around. Luke and Thalia looked a lot dirtier and their eyes were drooping, as if they were close to passing out. Luke's shining bronze blade glinted in the sunlight, almost blinding me...if I had been there.

Luke had a gash on his left arm and it was bleeding heavily. "Come on!" he yelled to Thalia.

She was jogging along behind him, clutching her stomach and wincing every step she took. On the arm that she was clutching her stomach with was a shield with a really ugly head on the front of it and in her other hand was a spear with a wooden shaft and a celestial bronze spearhead. "We need to get there soon. We have to be there soon."

"Yup. Chesapeake is close."

A loud howl came from behind them and a hellhound hopped out from out of the backyard of some person's house. It broke through the building, destroying half the house and creating a massive hole in the bedroom. The mortal standing at the edge of the second floor of her destroyed house screamed. She was probably a heavy sleeper because it looked like it was twelve in the afternoon.

"Hurry!" Luke urged. He pushed Thalia ahead of him and pointed his sword at the beast. "Stay away, stupid hellhound." It growled at him. "Stay away unless you want to feel this sword up your ass!"

The hellhound snapped at Luke and he had to dive to the ground to avoid getting eaten like dog food. He quickly got back up and slashed at the black rhino-sized hound. The hellhound jumped up and dodged the sword. It landed on Luke and slashed at his chest. Luckily for him, Luke had armor and the hellhound magically blew up before it could tear completely through it.

"Hurry!" called Thalia.

"Sometimes I'm glad you're the daughter of Zeus," said Luke. "It comes in handy very often."

"Glad to help."

A dark shadow passed over me and another hellhound landed in front of the duo with a loud _ROAR!_Then my dream faded and I woke up, still smelling rotten banana's.

* * *

In the morning, I found my way to a taxi and decided to head to Los Angeles. It would be a cool idea to go to Hollywood for once in my life.

I called for a taxi and got in.

"You got the money?" the cab driver asked.

"Do you take hotel credit cards?" I said.

"Some of them. Give it to me, let's see."

I gave him the LotusCash Card and he swiped it through. The green lights flashed and spun until a sideways eight, the infinity symbol, appeared on the meter machine. The cab driver's eyes bulged and he turned to me, his eyes wide. "Um...where to, Your Majesty."

I snorted. _Me? Your Majesty?_"Los Angeles."

"Yes, sir," replied the cab driver.

The cab driver hit the gas and all the way to Los Angeles, the speedometer never dropping below ninety-five as soon as we hit the highway.

* * *

**Sorry for not updating in a while. I was a bit busy in the past week with homework and what not, but I finally finished this filler chapter...which is pretty long for a filler chapter. This is just the aftermath of the Lotus Hotel and Casino and a sneak peak of Luke and Thalia. I also want all of you readers to search up Crawling's lyrics and see if you can try to make the connection. If ten people guess why that song relates to Percy (it doesn't have to be the correct answer, I just want an answer), I will include it in one of the next two chapters. I already gave you all a super big hint so if you don't get it right...there's something seriously wrong with you. Just kidding :).**

**Percy's going to Los Angeles. What's going to happen there? Will he meet Hades? I hate asking questions like these, but I would also like your feedback on what you would like to have Percy do in Los Angeles. I hope to make the next chapter less of a filler and more of an important event. Percy'll be going back to Long Island soon. Just one last stop...**

**Hey everyone,**

**This is just an experiment. It is actually going pretty well. ****I know, something similar has been done before, bla, bla, bla...** But I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing. Plus, vote on the poll.

**Question of the Chapter:**** Why does Crawling by Linkin Park relate to Percy?**

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	14. The Endless Pit

**Hey everyone,**

**Thanks to all of the people who voted in my poll to see who Percy "meets." Now, there is a new poll. I do lots of thinking and planning ahead so I would like to know if people want this to the first in a series of stories or just one final story. If you readers want a sequel, it would go in the order of Sea of Monsters, Titan's Curse etc. However, it will not be like TTC: Perlia or the BotL: Perlia because there are some major changes in the story. Please go to my profile page to vote. Thanks once again.**

**Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thanks to all who reviewed in the previous chapter:  
fjclay823, DeathmatchDrunkard, erridius, jenn008, LyingTruth123, May Salome Love, Guest & Kitsune95.**

**Welcome to the longest chapter in the story. Not including the intro and concluding end parts, the story is about 7,100 words long. It took me a while to write this chapter. I am also grateful that there is the Lightning Thief because it helped my descriptions. This chapter is kind of rushed at the end, but I didn't want this chapter to be too long.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Περσεύς 14**

**The Endless Pit**

"Keep the change. Seriously."

The cab driver tried to act nonchalant about keeping an infinite amount of money, but I could tell that he really wanted it. There was this gleam in his eye that I believed any person would get if they were offered that much money.

I shut the door and the taxi sped off into the distance before turning a corner and disappearing from my sight. I looked around, shops lining the streets around me. I had decided to stop at Santa Monica Pier...just because I wanted to. Tons of people walked on the streets, like New York, but everything seemed more spaced out.

Carnival rides and shops lined the pier, people weaving around the dock to either leave, get onto a ride or buy something from one of the shops. It was late and the sun setting, although Apollo had yet to reach the horizon. Still, the Pacific Ocean glittered in the sunlight. _Largest ocean in the world, covering about one-third of the Earth's surface area. It is currently shrinking as the Atlantic Ocean grows._

I walked down to the surf and paced slowly around one spot, staring out at the beautiful ocean. Children were still playing in the water despite the time of day, splashing each other. A faint memory tucked in my mind of Miami Beach appeared and I smiled.

Without thinking, I decided to take a swim. I walked into the water, the liquid dirty from all sorts of pollution rising up to my knees. I kept walking, not feeling a single drop of water on me. I closed my eyes and let the rays of sunlight warm my face. Then I submerged.

Not only did the feeling of sunlight leave my face, but also an instinctive feeling in my gut told me that I was completely underwater. Subconsciously holding my breath, I let go a sigh of relief when I opened my eyes. I also gasped.

It was much darker underwater, the sunlight not reaching all the way to the bottom where I was, but I could still see stuff. It was unexplainable, but everything seemed to appear in my vision. I could see the rolling texture of the bottom. I could see the wildlife under the sea, like the fish. I could even see the currents, warm and cold streams swirling together.

I felt something at my ankles, patting against my skin lightly. When I looked down, I groaned mentally. A five-foot long mako shark was at my heel, not attacking me but rather nuzzling me like a dog or something. First the Great White and now this.

I bent down to the mako shark and returned the favor. I patted his head and rubbed his back. An echoing voice spoke in my head, the pitch not too deep, yet not too high. _Hello, lord. Follow me, Percy Jackson._

I wasn't surprised that the shark knew my identity. The gods had a knack for spreading news in the blink of an eye...literally. I shrugged to myself and grabbed onto the dorsal fin of the shark and he pulled me further into the depths of the sea.

I was pulled along, passing by many groups of fish, all treating me like royalty. I figured that it was a good thing Triton wasn't here because technically he was royalty. I was just some half-blood, born of the sea, yet born of a mortal. I guess you could call me the _Half-Blood Prince_.

Eventually we stopped at the edge of the ocean proper, where the sand bank dropped off into a huge chasm. It was like standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon at midnight, not being able to see much, but knowing the void was right there.

A rush of cold water blasted at me from the chasm and I nearly toppled over. Nothing happened at first, other than me almost losing my balance. But then, after a few moments, a couple of lost memories flooded back into my head.

It was the middle of the night and I was barely a year old, sleeping in my crib and drooling like a leaking water dam. My baby self tossed and turned, muttering gibberish. Also in the room was my mother, lying in the covers, her face slightly pale and wrinkled. I was no good guesser, but I figured she was probably worrying about giving birth to me.

Then, out of nowhere, water particles from the air seemed to move to one set location, eventually turning into my father. He had normal clothes on, not his usual shorts and T-shirt. He had a hoodie, some jeans and a white shirt peeking out of the chest area where the hoodie was unzipped.

Poseidon looked around and suddenly, my vision shifted. I was staring up at the ceiling in the pitch black room. Something black started making its way over me and I got a little wary. But then my father's face appeared in front of me. A high-pitched squeal came from my throat and Poseidon disappeared from view.

I giggled in my baby voice again and turned to the side. My mom was barely awake, her eyes bleary and tired. _Please go to sleep, Percy. I've already changed your diapers seven times in the past two hours. How much do you have to poop? Or pee?_

If it were me in the future I would have blushed. It was really embarrassing.

My mom dropped back onto the bed, exhausted. My head turned back up and my father's face appeared again. He smiled and laid a hand on my forehead. "Hello, Perseus." I gurgled at him. Poseidon let out a quiet chuckle. He had a look in his eye, like he really wanted to be able to stay. But I knew long ago that gods couldn't and although I didn't like it, my dad stopped contacting me for six more years after this.

Poseidon quietly walked over to my mom's side and crouched down. He kissed her cheek and quietly whispered, _I love you, Sally. I promise. Our son will be safe. I guarantee it._My mom smiled in her sleep and Poseidon kissed her cheek again before disappearing into a fine mist.

My baby self started crying and my mom woke up, groaning, but with the barest of a smile on her face.

I opened my eyes to realize that I was still underwater near Santa Monica Pier. A warm current rose from the depths of the chasm. I smiled.

"Hey to you too, dad." My voice echoed into the darkness like I was yelling down into a canyon. "Thanks for breaking the law and visiting me. I guess I know why _I_break the law and steal." No answer came, but that was expected. "Well...nice talking to you and...I'll see you later."

A warm sensation came to my face and I felt my body slowly dissolve in the water. My eyes widened in panic. _Whoa! What's happening?_There was no pain to it at all and I could still feel my entire body. I was just...disappearing.

Soon, my face disappeared and my vision shut off. Seconds later, it returned. I was back on the beach next to the Santa Monica Pier. I looked down at my body, watching as water droplets from the ocean rose up to form my body. I appreciated the quick transport back to land, but did my dad seriously have to make me disappear?

* * *

I was now night time and the alleys of Los Angeles were pitch black, like the chasm in the ocean had been. Each time I passed by an alley, my paranoia grew. Each time, I waited for someone to call me into the shadows and lure me into a trap. But every time nothing happened.

The reason why I was so afraid was the fact that I always felt a sense of dread and death. It was weird, but this was definitely a creepy place. Los Angeles was chaotic, full of celebrities and stars, full of children and full of gangbangers.

I must've looked healthy enough because a couple of times, loners with nothing tried mugging me. I had to knock them out and then drag their bodies into the shadows. Police cars zoomed by, their sirens wailing as they sped to crime scenes.

To top it off, I was completely lost. I didn't know if I had passed this Burger King five times or twenty times, but I knew that I had no idea where I was going.

As I hurried passed the entrance of an alley, a voice from the darkness said, "Hey, you."

Like an idiot, I stopped.

Before I knew it, I was surrounded. A gang of kids had circled me. Six of them in all—white kids with expensive clothes and mean faces.

"Get away from me," I said. It was my lame attempt at scaring them away. I had never been good with my voice. I could step up to the plate of leadership whenever I wanted, but I led by example rather than words. I was no Alexander the Great.

The boy who seemed to be the leader of the gang let out a chuckle and a ripple of laughter came from all six boys.

I pulled out my switchblade and activated it. It was small and short, but it proved to be deadly.

The leader gave me a canine grin and pulled out his own blade. The other six boys pulled out their own assortment of weapons ranging from switchblades, to knives, to daggers. All of the boys gave me evil grins, thinking that I was some inexperienced ten year old roaming around on the streets with a tiny switchblade for protection. I would've used Riptide, but I had implanted in my head that celestial bronze wouldn't kill humans and I would only swing Riptide at mortals if I didn't know they were there, already had it out and was panicking.

"Boys," the leader said. "Looks like we're having some-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence when my left fist collided with his jaw. Some of the kids were startled at my speed and didn't have a chance. Immediately after punching the leader in the jaw, I slipped the duffel bag off of my shoulder and did a spinning hook kick to the guy behind me. It hit him on his temple and he collapsed to the ground.

I scooped up his dagger and held it with my right hand. My switchblade was my left, in ice pick grip, like I was using Riptide and Triametalla together. I twirled both knives and held my fighting stance.

"Grab the bag," one of the gang members yelled. Another tried to go for the bag, but was promptly knocked out by a flying side kick to the chest and a stomp on the head (not hard as I didn't want to kill them).

The three remaining gang members all looked at each other realizing I wasn't harmless and all three decided to flee. They ran in different directions, one of them stumbling and tripping on the curb.

"That's what you get!" I yelled into the darkness. A few heads snapped my way as the streets of L.A. weren't empty, but most of them were homeless people, starving to death.

I pulled my hood up and hurriedly walked away.

I passed by closed appliance stores and other shops. I passed by this barber shop that was still open (for reasons unknown), the television still blaring through the front window. When I paused to peer in, the barber glared at me from the front desk as if saying, _get a haircut or leave kid._

"It's all about the money isn't it?" I muttered. I stalked off further into the night, away from the only open shop on the street. At the moment, even with the street lights on, Los Angeles felt kind of depressing. There was this aura to it that made me feel uncertain and wary of my surroundings. Especially because it was night time, I tried to keep myself awake so that I wouldn't collapse on the ground and get mugged.

When I finally decided to fall asleep, it was probably past midnight, at least three in the morning.

* * *

The next morning after I woke up, I took a long walk and just thought about random stuff. _Rainbow ponies, jumping on cotton clouds. Watch them ponies go. Flying horses, beautiful, majestic. Then fly off into the sky with donuts. La la la la la la._

I wasn't joking. That was seriously the first thing that popped into my head. Then I got serious.

The sun rose in the east, from the land rather than the ocean that I used to see in New York. It was no longer a weird sight as I had spent the last two years or so in the center of the U.S. and there the cities were completely surrounded by land.

I walked through the city, getting lost multiple times and having to ask for directions to be able to get out of my loop. I decided to go and eat at a McDonalds. I still had money that I stole from some homeless guy who was sleeping when I woke up. I kind of felt bad, but this was a game of survival and if you weren't alert you would be preyed on.

"I'll have an Egg McMuffin," I said.

The fat lady behind the cash register collected my money and went to get my order.

I know, I know. Eating at McDonalds was extremely unhealthy and I would end up hurting myself, increasing my risk of getting cancer, but how else would I eat. I couldn't steal all the time (have I told you about how much I wish I was a descendant of Hermes?), and I wasn't going to go find a wild chicken and get salmonella. Get this in your head. Percy Jackson is not stupid. He is just a slow-thinker. Now repeat that in your head ten times.

The fat lady came back with the Egg McMuffin and handed it to me. I walked away and the lady called for the next customer in the line.

I found a small booth that was for two people. I sat down on one side and talked to my imaginary friend Leroy.

It didn't take long to finish the disgusting burger, but just before I could get up, I noticed a faint line scratched into the wall next to me. Most would say, _What's so special about a line?_ Well...this line, with a bunch of other lines, drew a map and a few words. The name of the place was: DOA RECORDING STUDIOS. In brackets, words said: _Not what it sounds like_. A map was drawn to the left of the words, an "M" marking where the McDonalds was. Poorly drawn streets were sketched out and an arrow led to a place a couple of blocks away. A square labeled _DOA_was at the point of the arrow.

The whole diagram was signed by someone named Thane Ados. With a start, I realized that the writing was all in Greek which was why I could read it so easily. Another fact then occurred to me. The Thane Ados guy was probably a demigod of some sort, leaving clues for some challenge-like thing. I was kind of bored and didn't enjoy challenges (especially when my dad left me in a hotel for five months) that much, but I decided to give it a go.

I made sure I had all of my stuff and took off for DOA Recording Studios.

* * *

The place was nothing like I had thought. I was kind of glad that I had been introduced to ghosts and spirits beforehand because everyone, with the exception of one person, in the lobby were ghosts. Well...I guess it was valid because the sign outside specifically said: NO LIVING.

The carpet and walls were steel gray. Pencil cactuses grew in the corners like skeleton hands. The furniture was black leather, and every seat was taken. There were people sitting on couches, people standing up, people staring out the windows or waiting for the elevator. Nobody moved, or talked, or did much of anything. Ghosts were still weird though. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see them all just fine, but if I focused on any one of them in particular, they started looking...transparent. I could see right through their bodies.

The security guard's desk was a raised podium, so I had to look up at him.

He was tall and elegant, with chocolate-colored skin and bleached-blond hair shaved military style. He wore tortoiseshell shades and a silk Italian suit that matched his hair. A black rose was pinned to his lapel under a silver name tag.

I squinted as I tried to read it. For a second I thought it looked like Chiron, but this guy was no centaur. "Cha-a-ar-ron." I sounded out.

He leaned across the desk. I couldn't see anything in his glasses except my own reflection, but his smile was sweet and cold, like a python's, right before it eats you.

"Good, good," Charon nodded. "Now try _Mr._Charon."

"Mr. Charon."

"Well done," he praised. "Now how may I help you little dead one."

The question caught be in the stomach like a speeding fastball.

"Wait...I'm going to the Underworld?" I asked.

Charon sighed, which totally didn't match his _I'm-deadly-like-a-python_look. "Yes. No this is not a mistake. You are now dead."

The name Charon finally dinged a bell in my mind. Charon was the ferryman that allowed spirits to travel to the Underworld. _Whoa! Backtrack a little here, Percy. You're at the entrance to the Underworld. The place full of dead stuff and the uncle who wants to kill you._

Then another part of my mind kicked in. _But maybe you can sneak in and say hi to mom._

I was too busy debating in my mind about whether I should've been freaked out or excited that I was able to sneak into the Underworld and see my mom that I didn't hear Charon say, "But it is, however, unfortunate circumstance that young children do not carry their American Express card with them so they often stay in the lobby for...oh, millennia."

Subconsciously, maybe, I think I heard him because before I knew what I was doing, I felt myself reach into my bag, pulling out a sac of golden drachmas. I took three coins out from the pouch and laid them on the desk.

Though I still couldn't see them, I could sense that Charon's eyes grew another feeling to them, like a hungry feeling when he saw the golden drachmas on the desk. My eyes and brain focused, causing me to stare, puzzled, at the golden coins. My memory was still kind of hazy from being in the Lotus Hotel and Casino, and I was still kind of mad at my dad who left me in a hotel for five months that could've kept me forever if I hadn't gotten out.

"My, my," marveled Charon. "I haven't seen these in forever. The last time that I..." He trailed off. "By the way, boy. What is your name, out of curiosity?"

"Percy Jackson," I said, oblivious to why he asked me the question.

"And your father?" Charon asked.

That should've been the alarm bell ringer, but I stupidly answered, "Poseidon."

As fast as a viper, Charon reached out across the desk and grabbed my arm. His cold smile turned into a dark sneer. I realized my mistake too late as he jumped over the desk, turned me around and twisted my left arm. My fingers could touch the back of my head, which I shouldn't have been able to do. Pain shot up my arm and I cursed.

As Charon went to whisper in my ear, I felt his breath blow on my skin. It gave me a cold chill, seemingly freezing my skin. "No so clever are you, boy," he said.

His breath lingered around me, filling my nostrils with the smell of death and flowers. His breath faintly reminded me of something, but everything was still fuzzy and I couldn't tell why I felt a similarity between this dude and someone else.

Charon chuckled. "Welcome to the Underworld, boy." He turned me around so that I could see his face. A fire seemed to light up in his eyes. "I hope you have a good _visit_."

* * *

I grunted as a skeletal guard hit me in the back with the butt of his gun.

My stupid mouth had gotten me in trouble and I was pretty much being arrested for committing a very serious crime: living. And now I was getting the final verdict from the judge. His name was Hades, the Lord of the Dead.

The skeleton behind me chattered in the language of bone. He nudged me in the back with his M16 rifle again.

"Quit it," I snapped. "I know where I'm going."

The skeleton chattered at me again, his empty eye sockets baring down at me. To be honest, the gun was scarier than the skeleton. Hell, even the spears were scarier than the skeletons.

Eerie ghostly sounds came from the almost silent hallway, each of my steps - and the skeletons' - echoing along with the creepy sounds. I felt like I was in a horror movie, except for the fact that this was reality and I was likely to get killed in the next few moments. Boy, my dad would be pissed.

There three skeletons surrounding me - and probably a whole lot of reinforcements following - preventing any escape and unfortunately for me, it would take less than a second for the skeleton behind me to pull the trigger that allowed a fatal bullet to be shot into my heart. I was trapped and I knew it.

We emerged out of the long tunnel and came out at a side entrance to the entrance of the Underworld. I wasn't sure what I was expecting at the entrance to the Underworld, maybe the Pearly Gates or something dramatic, but it was much different from what I imagined.

The entrance to the Underworld looked like a cross between airport security and the Jersey Turnpike.

There were three separate entrances under one huge black archway that said YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS. Each entrance had a pass-through metal detector with security cameras mounted on top. Beyond this were toll-booths manned by black-robed ghouls like Charon.

The howling of a hungry animal was really loud now, but I couldn't see where it was coming from. The three-headed dog, Cerberus, who was supposed to guard Hades' door, was nowhere to be seen.

Unknowingly, I had stopped while taking in the giant lines emerging from the three separate entrances, two marked ATTENDANT ON DUTY, and one marked EZ DEATH. The EZ DEATH line was moving right along while the other two inched along like...well, inchworms.

Suddenly, aluminum and plastic was slammed into the side of my head and I collapsed to the ground. I let out a quiet shout of pain because it hurt. However, I was used to getting hurt so it wasn't the worst feeling I'd ever faced.

The skeleton guards in front of me were glaring at me with those hollow eye sockets of theirs, and sneering at me with their teeth. Well, I assumed that they were sneering because without lips they looked like they were grinning evilly. It was completely possible that they were grinning, but there were no rules against assumptions...were there?

I wearily got up from the ground and continued to follow the leading two skeletons. When I got to them, they were still glaring at me. The front two, unlike the third one, were British redcoats and they had bayonets rather than M16s.

When I got up to them, one skeleton guard swiped his (I assumed the skeleton was a _he_) bayonet at my legs, causing me to fall to the ground. Then both skeletons stabbed their bayonets on either side of my face. They didn't speak or make any noise at all, but I got the message. _Keep moving or next time, you're dead._

I bit back my anger and got back up. I felt a small sting on my leg, but I figured I just got a minor cut. My head was pounding and as I continued following the skeletons I grabbed that "special spot" that got hit. All I could think of on my way to Hades' palace was one thing: the scar on the left side of my head that I always kept hidden with my messy jet-black hair.

As we neared Hades' palace, I saw the Furies circling the top of the fortress, high in the gloom. The outer walls of the fortress glittered black, and the two-story-tall bronze gates stood wide open.

Up close, I saw that the engravings on the gates were scenes of death. Some were from modern times—an atomic bomb exploding over a city, a trench filled with gas mask-wearing soldiers, a line of starving people waiting with empty bowls—but all of them looked as if they'd been etched into the bronze thousands of years ago. I wondered if I was looking at prophecies that had come true.

Inside the courtyard was the strangest garden I'd ever seen. Multi-colored mushrooms, poisonous shrubs, and weird glowing plants grew without sunlight. Precious jewels made up for the lack of flowers, piles of rubies as big as my fist, clumps of raw diamonds. Standing here and there like frozen party guests were garden statues - petrified children, satyrs, and centaurs - all smiling monstrously.

In the center of the garden was an orchard of pomegranate trees, their orange blooms neon bright in the dark. I had a sudden desire to eat them, but then I remembered the story of Persephone. One bite of Underworld food, and we would never be able to leave.

I was pushed up the steps of the palace, between black columns, through a black marble portico, and into the house of Hades. The entry hall had a polished bronze floor, which seemed to boil in the reflected torchlight. There was no ceiling, just the cavern roof, far above. I guess they never had to worry about rain down here.

Every side doorway was guarded by a skeleton in military gear. Some wore Greek armor, some British redcoat uniforms, some camouflage with tattered American flags on the shoulders. They carried spears or muskets or M16s.

Two U.S. Marine skeletons guarded the doors. They grinned down at me, rocket-propelled grenade launchers held across their chests.

The skeleton guards talked to each other in _bone_and seemed to agree on something. The U.S. Marine skeletons guarding the door stepped aside and the British redcoat skeletons in front of me opened the doors.

When I was ushered into the throne room, I neared peed my pants.

To think that all of the security in the palace was a lot would be an understatement. There were probably as many skeletons in the throne room as there were in the rest of the palace. In the middle of the room was a black onyx throne made of fused human bones, with a man sitting in the throne.

He was at least ten feet tall, for one thing, and dressed in black silk robes and a crown of braided gold. His skin was albino white, his hair shoulder-length and jet black. He wasn't bulked up, but he radiated power. He lounged on his throne of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful, and dangerous as a panther.

I immediately felt like he should be giving the orders. He knew more than I did. He should be my master.

Then I told myself to snap out of it.

Hades' aura was affecting me. The Lord of the Dead resembled pictures I'd seen of Adolph Hitler, or Napoleon, or the terrorist leaders who direct suicide bombers. Hades had the same intense eyes, the same kind of mesmerizing, evil charisma. Yet there seemed to be a hidden feeling under those eyes, like a feeling Hades had emotions that he forcefully put to the back of his mind.

Around Hades, like I had said, was probably a giant army of skeletons at Hades' immediate disposal.

As the skeletons who guided me here pushed me to the center of the room, I watched as Hades raised an eyebrow. One of the skeletons threw Riptide and Triametalla up to Hades. Without even looking at the weapons, Hades snatched them out of midair.

"Hello, nephew," Hades said. His voice was oily, as if he just drank a bottle of vegetable oil or something.

"Theios Adi," I nodded at him.

He smiled cruelly at me. "What brings you here, nephew?"

I debated in my mind on whether I should lie or not, but the gods could probably tell the truth from a lie. "Sketch at that McDonalds. Some person named Thane Ados. I thought he or she was a demigod because it was in Ancient Greek."

Hades laughed a humorless laugh. It didn't sound quite evil, but more like a bitterness in his voice. "Thanatos is up to his old tricks, I see."

I literally face palmed myself. _Thane Ados, Than Atos, Thanatos. Why couldn't I see that before?_

"And you still gave Charon drachmas, didn't you. Without thinking? Or maybe thinking about your mother?"

The caught my attention. "Is...is my mom okay?"

Hades turned away from me and glared at the ceiling, as if he were trying to look at the sky. "She is fine. Yes." Hades looked kind of lost in his thoughts.

As he shifted in his throne, shadowy faces appeared in his robes, faces of torment, as if the garment were stitched of trapped souls from the Fields of Punishment, trying to get out. The ADHD part of me wondered, off-task, whether the rest of his clothes were made the same way. What horrible things would you have to do in your life to get woven into Hades' underwear?

"Um...Uncle, if you're going to kill me or imprison me or something, could you hurry up?" I asked.

Hades was knocked out of his thoughts and snarled at me. "And cause war?"

I stared at him, puzzled. "Cause war?"

Hades grumbled and cursed under his breath. "Not so bright are you, godling?" He explained, "If I kill you, your father would get angry because I killed his child and he would kill more humans in his rage. The more mortals that die, the more spirits that enter my kingdom, as if the lines to enter the Judgement Pavilion are not long enough." Hades' voice increased in volume every word he spoke. His eyes glowed and dark black color. "I may loathe you as you are illegal and the creation of a broken law, but I am not foolish enough, nor arrogant enough to cause war."

I bit my tongue as I was about to say something like, _Well I was just asking._

"But there is nothing against imprisoning you," mused Hades and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I had suggested that earlier...

"So...you're going to imprison me?" I asked.

Hades' eyes flared again and this time numbness crept into my joints, tempting me to lie down and just take a little nap at Hades' feet. Curl up here and sleep forever.

"As much as I would like to, I know that you are much like your father, and your father is...not as bad as the other Olympians," Hades said. The tinge of bitterness came back into his voice.

I racked my brain for any reasons why Hades would feel bitter about the Olympians. What I got was that: _they left him in the Underworld and I guess that they didn't allow him to freely come up onto Olympus._

Despite the fact that he hated me, and I didn't exactly like him, I couldn't help but feel pity for him. But since he was Hades, I don't think he would've liked pity. "Why don't they let you on Olympus?" I blurted out.

"I ask myself that every day," Hades growled. "At least I'm not an Olympian. They are high on their enemy's target lists."

I recalled to the oldest stories of when the Big Three drew lots to see which domains they would rule. Zeus got the longest stick and got the sky, my father the medium sized stick and got the sea, and Hades who got the shortest stick and got the Underworld.

"So, my final verdict is to allow you to go free," said Hades. "But do not try to come back here again, or I will put you in the dungeons."

"Immediately?"

"Depends on the situation," said Hades. "Now leave before I change my mind. And take this." Hades handed me a sea-green pearl. "This pearl I have kept for hundreds of years. The last son of Poseidon to come here died. This pearl will take you to the surface."

"Why are you helping me?" I asked. Not that I wasn't grateful for the help, but earlier, Hades looked like he was going to kill me and now he was helping me.

"I may be known as a harsh god, but I am fair and just. It is your father to blame, not you. But be warned. If you do anything to anger me in the slightest, you will wish you were never born." The slight cruelness shone through his eyes.

I grabbed the pearl out of Hades' giant hand and took my weapons back. "You stomp on the pearl to go back," Hades instructed. "Don't do it in here. I do not want to have clean this place once again."

I thought about talking about how dirty skeletons could be, but I didn't feel like angering Hades anymore. Especially because of the fact that he was one of the gods who hated me.

I bowed, which was totally unlike me, and exited the throne room.

* * *

Curiosity is wonderful. It gives you the desire to want to know something. It is the thirst for knowledge. And it could undoubtedly be the near death of someone.

Instead of immediately stomping on the pearl to get back to the surface, I took a little tour. On the way to the palace, my head was pounding from getting hit by the butt of the M16 that one of the skeletons was holding and I didn't exactly focus on my surroundings on my way to Hades' palace. Now, if you want to know what the Fields of Asphodel are like, listen to this.

Imagine the largest concert crowd you've ever seen, a football field packed with a million fans.

Now imagine a field a million times that big, packed with people, and imagine the electricity has gone out, and there is no noise, no light, no beach ball bouncing around over the crowd. Something tragic has happened backstage. Whispering masses of people are just milling around in the shadows, waiting for a concert that will never start.

If you can picture that, you have a pretty good idea what the Fields of Asphodel looked like. The black grass had been trampled by eons of dead feet. A warm, moist wind blew like the breath of a swamp. Black trees grew in clumps here and there.

The cavern ceiling was so high above us it might've been a bank of storm clouds, except for the stalactites, which glowed faint gray and looked wickedly pointed. I tried not to imagine they'd fall on me at any moment, but dotted around the fields were several that had fallen and impaled themselves in the black grass. I guess the dead didn't have to worry about little hazards like being speared by stalactites the size of booster rockets.

The dead were hard to look at. Their faces shimmered. They all looked slightly angry or confused. They will come up to you and speak, but their voices sound like chatter, like bats twittering. Once they realize you can't understand them, they frown and move away.

Unlike other ghosts and spirits I've seen before, the common dead weren't scary. They were sad and depressing.

I saw a large black-tented pavilion that had one giant line coming through the front and two much smaller lines coming out of the back.

The left line of spirits flanked by security ghouls were marched down a rocky path toward the Fields of Punishment, which glowed and smoked in the distance, a vast, cracked wasteland with rivers of lava and minefields and miles of barbed wire separating the different torture areas. Even from far away, I could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to opera music.

I could just make out a tiny hill, with the ant-size figure of Sisyphus struggling to move his boulder to the top. And I saw worse tortures, too - things I don't want to describe. One of the tortures reminded me so much of..._no!_ _Forget about it Percy. It's the past. He's not in your life anymore._

The line coming from the right side of the judgment pavilion was much better. This one led down toward a small valley surrounded by walls—a gated community, which seemed to be the only happy part of the Underworld. Beyond the security gate were neighborhoods of beautiful houses from every time period in history, Roman villas and medieval castles and Victorian mansions. Silver and gold flowers bloomed on the lawns. The grass rippled in rainbow colors. I could hear laughter and smell barbecue cooking.

Elysium.

In the middle of that valley was a glittering blue lake, with three small islands like a vacation resort in the Bahamas. The Isles of the Blest, for people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times achieved Elysium. Immediately I knew that's where I wanted to go when I died.

Unless my mom didn't go for it...I would do anything to stay with my mom for eternity. Except that I didn't want to die yet. Then the past three years of my life would've been pointless.

I continued wandering for a while, not really caring where I was going, and found myself heading down a steep slope, the ground under me turning from black grass to gravel and rocks. I realized that I was heading down a tunnel and the further I went, the colder and darker it got.

In the past few days I noticed that I had tiny hairs growing on my arms. Down in the dark cave, the hairs on my arms bristled. I sensed something wrong with the place down here. For a second I thought about stomping on the pearl and escaping this place, but my curiosity took over.

I continued down the dark cave where a dim light started illuminating the walls. I continued forward and stumbled forward when I saw what was ahead of me.

The tunnel widened into a huge dark cavern, and in the middle was a chasm the size of a city block.

While I was busy gaping at the darkness in front of me, I tripped and started rolling down the gravel hill.

I was ten feet from the edge of the pit when I caught myself and stopped. I sat there on the gravel, panting from my good luck...or maybe bad luck. I wasn't sure if it was because I was down deep in the Earth or because I was traumatized, but my limbs felt like lead. My headache, that had temporarily gone away, started coming back and I started feeling dizzy.

"Oh gods," I said. "That was-"

I stopped myself. Why? Because I heard something - a deep whisper in the darkness. I focused more intently and heard the sound grew louder, and louder. I recognized a muttering of a evil voice from far below. From the pit.

I instinctively uncapped Riptide. The bronze blade gleamed in the darkness and then the evil voice faltered, just for a moment, before resuming a chant.

I could almost make out words now, not English, not Greek, but something more ancient. It seemed even more ancient than the gods...

"Magic," I whispered. "This is bad."

I started backing up away from the pit. The voice got louder and angrier behind me and I broke into a run.

"Perseus Jackson," a familiar voice said from the pit. It was scratchy, like claws scratching at rocks, or a knife carving images into a stone wall. I couldn't exactly place who the voice belonged to, but I knew the voice was evil. I could feel it.

"It is wonderful to finally meet you," said the voice.

A cold blast of wind seemed to reach up from the pit to try and pull me toward it. I struggled against it and kept backing up.

The evil chanting started up again, the voice extremely angry. The cold blast of wind blew harder and pulled me in faster. I struggled harder, even grabbing at the ground to pull myself away from the dark pit, also known as Tartarus. Despite my efforts, I started slipping backward.

The evil dude was going to win. There was no way to get out of this. Unless...

I punched a small hole in the gravel and rocks, and put the pearl Hades gave me into it. I pulled my leg up toward the pearl, the evil voice in the pit getting even angrier, if that was possible. I stomped on the pearl and lost my balance. I tumbled toward the pit and I closed my eyes, awaiting my fate.

Then suddenly, as soon as I rolled once, a milky white sphere appeared around of me and I started rising toward the not visible ceiling. The evil voice hissed as I rose up to the top of the cavern. As I got closer to roof, I thought I would crash into the ceiling and the sphere would pop, dropping me back down into the pit, but as it made contact with the ceiling, everything went black.

I didn't fall! But...was I dead?

No. I still felt the sensation of the sphere moving, racing through solid rock as easily as an air bubble through water. After a minute or two, the bubble-like sphere burst through the ground...no, the ocean floor and I soared straight up toward the surface. As soon as I hit the air, the bubble popped and I emerged in the middle of Santa Monica Bay.

The evil voice's lines repeated in my head as the current of the water pushed me back toward shore. After the voice repeated over twenty times, I starting swimming back to shore as fast as I could.

I needed to get back to New York. And fast.

* * *

**Yeah I know that the end is pretty abrupt and a little blunt. This chapter took a lot of time to write with work coming in like rapid waters. Thanks for being patient and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you didn't...well, that's fine too, I guess?**

**Percy's going back to New York. What are your predictions as to what is going to happen? Will anything happen to Percy on the way to New York? The past is back to haunt Percy. Leave your opinions via Private Message or Review.**

**Hey everyone,**

**This is just an experiment. It is actually going pretty well. ****I know, something similar has been done before, bla, bla, bla...** But I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing. Plus, vote on the poll.

**Question of the Chapter: In the real series, does Thalia not like Luke for joining Kronos and believe he made bad decisions?****  
**

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	15. The Titan of the North

**Hey everyone,**

**Thanks to all of the people who voted in my poll to see who Percy "meets." Now, there is a new poll. I do lots of thinking and planning ahead so I would like to know if people want this to the first in a series of stories or just one final story. If you readers want a sequel, it would go in the order of Sea of Monsters, Titan's Curse etc. However, it will not be like TTC: Perlia or the BotL: Perlia because there are some major changes in the story. Please go to my profile page to vote. Thanks once again.**

**Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thanks to all who reviewed in the previous chapter:**  
**DeathmatchDrunkard****, ArcticTempest, Scaket, LyingTruth123, Kitsune95, greenblue22, Sorry that username is taken, BeautifulNoMatterWhat, & FaTaLClanWii.**

**Another quite long chapter. I kind of added multiple points to this chapter, but I don't want the story to go through many short chapters and I would rather just have fewer, but longer chapters. Getting close to New York. I mainly added this chapter in because Coeus (or Koios, or Polos) was never talked about in Percy Jackson & the Olympians. Also, I like the weirdo I am, made him more of a good guy mainly because he was the Titan of Knowledge and from experiencing the gods' rule and Kronos' rule, I feel his perspective could have changed although the gods themselves aren't much better than the Titan's. I added in a mini OC, but she doesn't appear in much of the story. The main point of having her here is to relate to Luke, Annabeth and Thalia running away and surviving together, whereas Percy is always left alone, no matter what he does or what happens. Poor Percy.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Περσεύς 15**

**The Titan of the North**

"Viola!"

We were running along the icy streets of Winnipeg up north in Canada. How I got there was a mystery to all, but who Viola was...now that was a different question.

Viola Blue was a young girl, about nine years old, so three years younger than me. Oh, did I mention that I turned twelve last August?

Anyway, Viola was a young girl, a stray demigod lost on the streets. I had found her in Casper, Wyoming, on the streets playing with flowers. It was winter time so the temperature was near freezing, yet the grass around her teemed with lively flowers. I assumed that her mother was a goddess of flowers...or father, though that didn't seem likely. The only _god_of the wild I knew was Pam or something like that.

I could tell that she wasn't a daughter of a major god because there were no monsters at all in the city. That was until I came, attracting all of the monsters to wherever I was.

When I first caught a look at her, I knew she wasn't some regular mortal. Like I said, flowers teemed with life around her when they should've been close to dead. I did a quick scout of the area around to make sure there were no monsters, and then I went up to her and asked her what she was doing.

When she had looked up, I saw something that I didn't see before. Her eyes were a bright purple color and at first, they seemed to shine with brightness and energy. However, when she looked up at me, I saw deeper into those violet eyes and saw sadness and pain.

At first, she seemed hesitant to talk to me, but soon after confessed that her father - who was mortal - had been killed in a car accident. After talking about her late father for a little bit and comforting her as she cried, I dropped the bomb on her.

I asked her if she was a demigod. That's how I was. I didn't ease people into telling them that I was a demigod. All my life I had learned to be straight and blunt with everything I do. If I was going to rob a store, I wouldn't walk in there casually and then sneak stuff out slowly. I would run in, grab what I needed and sprint the hell out of there.

She looked shocked for a moment to the fact that I knew what a demigod was. She explained that her father - who did not die at the car scene, but rather from his injuries in the hospital - told her that she was a demigod. She also told me about how she always felt this special connection with flowers.

I had nodded and told her the possibility of her being the daughter of the goddess of flowers or any goddess of nature. I wasn't sure if she could've been the daughter of the goddess of flowers because I had thought the goddess of flowers was married or something.

It had been an hour or so before the first monster attacked me...or rather, us.

It was just a mere hellhound, but I forgot that Viola wasn't a child of a major god and she hadn't encountered monsters before.

When she got scared and jumped behind my back, that was when I first took in her full appearance. Her violet eyes shone with fear, dark brown hair tied up in a messy ponytail, and dirty blue and purple clothing.

Suddenly, I had felt something in my chest. I was like a sense of duty, like I had to protect the girl. And so, three months ago, Viola and I went on the run together. Although I got a scratch from the hellhound, I easily dispatched it, running it through with my sword, Riptide.

When Viola had asked me what she would use to defend herself, I pulled out a small sword, a Makhaira. It wasn't a big sword, in fact, it kind of looked like a slightly longer dagger. Through wisdom and expertise...okay, through expertise, I learned that one needed to be skilled to handle a shorter weapon, my switchblade taking much more effort in killing monsters than my sword.

I had stolen the Makhaira from an abandoned demigod shelter in northern California.

So ever since those three months when Viola and I had met, we had grown a family-like relationship. She was like my little sister and I was like her older brother, that neither of really had.

Our bonding relationship grew as more stories were shared between us. But Viola was so young, I didn't want her to hear of the cruel stories of my young childhood. I always started at the point of my mom's death. It was saddening, but at least Viola knew how it felt.

In the first month, Viola tried to learn what happened before I found out I was a demigod, but I always kept silent. By the second month, she knew it was a sore subject for me and that I didn't want to talk about it.

_We he did..._

We traveled up northeast, making our way from Casper towards Montana and the Dakotas. Somewhere in Montana, we had gotten chased north by hellhounds and we were pushed up into Canada. At this point in time, we were in Winnipeg, Manitoba which was basically north of the Dakotas and Minnesota.

The temperature in this freezing place was a chilly...negative five degrees Celsius. There wasn't a Fahrenheit temperature reading on the Weather Network, but I could tell that negative five degrees Celsius was not in the negatives for Fahrenheit.

To make matters worse, Hyperborean giants were chasing after us, not blowing their icy breaths at us, but chasing after us with their giant clubs. Thank the gods that they weren't blowing ice at us otherwise we would've been frozen. Well, I could probably manipulate the ice and melt it.

The giants looked weird, their skin frosty blue and their hair icy gray. Normally these giants were nice a peaceful, but for some reason we somehow ticked them off and they started chasing us.

"Viola!" I yelled again at the girl chasing me.

She was panting heavily, her breath showing in the frosty air. "I'm trying!" she yelled back.

It was unfortunate for her, being the child of the flower goddess because her athleticism wasn't great and she didn't exactly fight well. She could kill monsters, but if they could dodge, she wouldn't be able to react in time to be able to stop from getting at least one cut.

Viola turned around. "What are you doing?" I yelled as I continued running forward.

Viola ignored me and chucked her Makhaira at the three Hyperborean giants. Luckily, it nailed one of the giants in the face and the giant halted, frozen into a giant icy blue statue of a giant with a sword skewered into its head.

"Hooray," I panted, "Viola Blue wins the javelin toss at the Olympics. She gets the gold medal. Run!"

Viola tried picking up the pace, but with her small frame, standing at four feet tall, her legs were short and her running was much slower than mine. I slowed down slightly, waiting for Viola to catch up.

Snow was falling now, getting heavier and heavier. A few minutes ago there was no snow falling from the sky at all, the air as clear as summer, but now, flurries fell from the sky, picking up the intensity as snowflakes collected on the icy ground.

I caught a glimpse of what was ahead of me and an idea formed in my head.

"Viola! I have a plan! Get a little closer!" I called over my shoulder.

"What plan do you have? The last time you had a plan it didn't go so well," Viola called back.

"Brace yourself," was my only reply.

As I neared the top of the hill, I slowed down to about the pace of a speed walk. My feet started slipping, but eventually when the ground started curving down, I focused on water and warming it up. I closed my eyes and my hand pointed down. I felt a pull in my gut and I opened my eyes. Little trails of steam came from the ice below me as I concentrated to warm the ice up.

My energy was slowly draining and I could feel it, but I had to distract the Hyperborean giants one way or another. The snow continued to fall, making it slightly harder to see and cooling the water back down. The wind picked up and began blowing a constant cold wind at my face, seemingly trying to freeze my face. I panicked for a second, thinking that a Hyperborean giant was blowing into my face, but I realized that it was only the feeling that I was going to freeze.

"What's the plan that you - AHHHH!" Viola yelled as I pushed her down the hill. "What the Hades!"

I watched as the ice on the side of the hill allowed her to slide down it easily, giving her time to catch her breath at the bottom of the hill. I was too concentrated on keeping the water liquid that I didn't give a response to Viola.

_Come on...come on..._

I felt the slight rumble in the ground as the Hyperborean giants neared me. The snow was falling so heavily now, that I could barely see three feet in front of me. But I could still see the shadows of the oncoming giants. Just as one giant raised his club, I blasted the water into their faces, making it freeze on their eyes, nose and mouth.

One of the giants lost his balance and tumbled down the hill. I heard the sound of a car alarm go off and grinned sheepishly. _Not my fault. Blame the giant blue monster._The other stumbled backwards and fell on his butt. I took advantage and stabbed Riptide down into the Hyperborean's chest. As soon as I ripped my sword out of the giant's heart, his body slowly froze up turning into another giant blue ice statue.

I clutched my chest as I caught my breath. In the freezing cold weather, which was getting colder rapidly, it was hard to keep the water liquid, even with my son of Poseidon powers.

Having fun, I slid down the icy hill, but it didn't turn out to be all that fun. I was not used to this much snow and as I slid down, the icy material was blasted into my face by the cold wind. It was not a pleasant feeling, my face feeling as frozen as ever.

"Viola!" I yelled. Then, I got scared.

That was the point when I realized the wind was howling like hellhounds. It was so loud that I couldn't even hear my own shouts. I tried bellowing out Viola's name as loud as I could, but I only heard the faintest bit of my voice.

"Viola!"

My skin was turning white from the freezing cold, my clothing not exactly suited for blizzards. Now this was out of control. Simple little ice I could handle, but raging blizzards was way off the charts. I thought of the possibility of getting frostbite, but I immediately pushed it aside. I _would_find Viola and get out of here.

But the further I went, the more pessimistic my thoughts became.

Just as I was about to give up and collapse to the ground in misery, I heard a faint scream that should've been ear-piercing. _Viola!_

My eyes went wide and I ran off in the direction of the scream. Luckily for me the snow wasn't packed up high on the ground. My biggest enemy was the low visibility, the snow and the cold. I really regretted the decision to come up here. Did the gods hate Canada or something?

"Viola!"

I started seeing a shadow laying on the ground. The shadow moved, seemingly frightened.

"Viola!"

"Percy!" a weak voice called back.

I felt overjoyed. I found Viola. We were going to be okay. Then I noticed the giant shadow above Viola. My blood turned cold and I seemed to lose all heat in my body. After a split second, all the heat rushed back into my body and I could move again.

But by then I was too late.

A giant shadow of a club reached up over the head of the giant, ready to strike down. "No!" I yelled again, but could only watch in terror as the club swung down and struck the frozen body of Viola, shattering her into a million pieces.

Her faint voice seemed to echo before getting lost in the wind. Blood boiled in my veins. My little sister was gone. Now the cold wind seemed to fuel me rather than freeze me up. A rush of energy filled my body like it did any time I fought.

"Ahhhh!" I let out my battle cry and uncapped Riptide. In my rage, I didn't realize that I had killed the giant with my first strike. I kept slashing and hacking at the broken ice statue of the Hyperborean giant, tears forming in my eyes, dropping to the ground and getting absorbed into the ice.

"You killed my little sis!" I yelled at the dead giant. I turned my head up to the sky. "You all killed my mother! You killed a girl who was practically my sister. Are you happy? Was it your goal to make my life miserable? I wish I wasn't a demigod. We're practically born just to see our friends and family die around us!"

I collapsed onto the ground, my whole body racking with sobs. As the bitter, harsh cold winter wind blew at my face, I thought about _it_. That's right, death.

That bitter feeling returned to my body the same way it had when my mom had died. _Death_. The single word brings a chill upon people who worry about life. It is the very thing that sends your soul to the Underworld, to the Judgement Pavilion where you are to be rewarded or punished for eternity.

Death is the very thing that removes those from the living world, and tears holes into the hearts of family and friends. Death is the event...or rather, god, that gives you passage from the light, to the dark pits of the Underworld.

There could be a happy ending where you go to Elysium, but you had to be a hero. If you were born simply to exist, you would most likely be sentenced to the Fields of Asphodel which was the equivalent of standing in an enormous field of dead grass the size of a gazillion football fields. And if you had done horrible things in your life, you would be thrown into the Fields of Punishment, to be chased by hellhounds or run naked through cactus patches.

Not to downgrade Viola, but she was no hero. All we had done was fight monsters along the way. According to my definitions, Viola was to be put in the Fields of Asphodel, cursed to stand in a wheat field forever...and I would never find her again. She would be washed in the River Lethe and her memory would be wiped from her brain.

However, as my body started cooling down I no longer felt remorse. It was as if the freezing weather was sucking all of the "nice" out of my body. Instead of remorse, I felt anger and the want for revenge...to avenge Viola's death.

Numbness crept into my body and I knew that I would soon get frostbite or hypothermia though I wasn't sure which.

I couldn't really feel my body move, but I got up from the snow and stomped through like a snow plow. I would not die now. I would fight for Viola. I would live my life for her and I would not allow anyone close to me to ever die. If someone _had _to die, it would be me.

My skin was pale and my entire body changing from hot to cold every few seconds. _I will not succumb to this weather._It was one minute later before I found a pair of doors. I tried opening them, but they were locked. I tried knocking. Five seconds later, the doors opened and I collapsed inside. The last thing I heard before I drifted into unconsciousness was a woman yelling for blankets...lots of them.

* * *

When I woke up, I immediately smelled hot chocolate. My eyes slowly opened and the first thing I saw was a very thick black blanket. My entire body felt hot and my muscles are sore. When I felt comfortable enough to move, I tried getting out from under the blanket. A voice halted me.

"Don't. You need to keep warm before you are able to move on."

I looked up to where the voice came from. A middle-aged woman was sitting on a chair holding a cup of coffee, sipping the cup at a slow pace. She had unnaturally curly red hair and shining green eyes. "You need to stay warm or you will get very sick," she advised.

"Wh-Where am I?" I asked.

"Winnipeg," she said. "You got caught in the snow storm yesterday. Almost caught hypothermia out there. It was a good thing you didn't, otherwise you would have to get to a hospital and by the look of things, you don't have a family to sign all of the papers."

I put my head down. The rush of memories broke through the memory dam and flooded into my brain. Hyperborean giants...Viola...frozen...ice...shattered... A few tears leaked through my eyes as Viola's death flashed in my eyes again. "Viola," I whispered.

The lady eyed me sadly. "I'm sorry, Percy."

I turned my head up to the middle-aged woman, puzzlement shining clear in my eyes. "How did you know my name?" Subconsciously, I shifted away from her. However, my frozen brain couldn't react to the possibility that she was a monster. My entire body hurt, my insides felt like they were frozen in a freezer, and my outside felt like I was in a sauna.

The lady let out a brief chuckle. "You talk in your sleep. My husband, my son and I have been taking care of you for the past day and there had been brief periods in which you had mumbled about 'Viola' and 'dead and gone' a lot. You also stated your name a couple of times."

The first thing I could respond with was, "Canadians don't say 'eh' at the end of every sentence."

The woman sighed. "Very stereotypical of them to believe that. It's the same as Texans not ending every sentence with 'y'all.'" She shook her head and reached over to a small little table next to the chair she was sitting in. She held a cup out for me. "Drink this. It's hot chocolate."

I nodded my thanks and took a sip of the warm drink. Despite sweating on the outside, my body filled with warmth. The lady told me to keep a thermometer thingy under my armpit. When it came out, the temperature was thirty-six point two degrees Celsius, point two degrees below the normal according to the lady.

"Perfect," smiled the lady. "With some more rest you'll be back to normal. Just make sure you keep the blankets on you until your body temperature gets to at least thirty-six point four degrees Celsius." She placed the thermometer thingy next to me. "Use this to check your body temperature the next time you wake up. When your body temperature reaches normal, take one more nap and then you are free to leave the blankets. Don't try to run off though. You will need to be fed a lot to restore all of your energy."

I blinked. "How do you know all of this?"

"My son, Jacob, got caught in a blizzard a couple of years ago. He actually got lost in the snow and got hypothermia. My husband, Alex, found him before Jake could die and brought him back to the house. We then brought Jake to the hospital when we realized how bad Jake's condition was. After the doctors warmed him up slowly, they recommended this." She pointed at me. "Then we went back to the hospital a week after he came home and they helped him get to full strength. Now, Jake is on the basketball team and the football team. He's as healthy as ever."

**(A/N I don't actually know, but let's just pretend like that's how you treat it.)**

I breathed a shallow sigh of relief. At least I would still be able to regain my strength to fight monsters off.

"Now rest," the lady instructed. "You'll be better in no time."

* * *

Over the next week or so, I went in and out of sleep, keeping my body warm and increasing the temperature. It only took a day for my body temperature to turn back to normal, though I kept myself warm and dry just in case.

During those periods of times when I sat in the living room watching the TV, I would always have a thick jacket (the father's) or a warm blanket covering me. Ashley Dare-Jackson, who was the mother of the family, stayed at home and acted as a housewife. She was continuously helping me, feeding me extra food that they bought specifically for me and keeping me warm and healthy.

She allowed me to do what I pleased that was within the rules of the house. The list of rules was too long to remember, but what I carved into my brain was to only watch TV and not do anything else. With my ADHD I constantly moved around the couch, sometimes watching the TV upside down because I couldn't keep myself contained.

I did have long chats with Ashley, though, talking about how I had gotten here. She told me that she was originally from New York City, but her cousin was rude to her, becoming rich and showing off in front of her. She wanted to escape from that so she worked hard, got money and moved to Winnipeg. That was how she met Alex Jackson, her husband. It felt kind of funny how the family I ran into and I had the same last name.

Alex and Ashley had been in the same seat, both young and on a plane ride. They eventually starting dating and after five long years, they got married. Two years after their marriage, Jacob Jackson was born.

Their family wasn't poor, yet they weren't all that rich. However, they were still a hell lot richer than my mom and I had been.

When Ashley asked about my background, I only included the stuff that seemed appropriate. Like with Viola, I started from when my mother died, and that I was from New York. Ashley felt even worse about my tragic life story than she did about her own life. I told her that I got abused and bullied a lot after my mom died. Then I said that I ran away from home. I said that my dad had been lost at sea and his body never recovered. And then I told her about my evil step-father.

I explained that I had stolen the switchblade to protect myself in case I ever got in trouble. I lied to her about Riptide and said that the pen was special because it was my mom's and my only physical reminder of her.

Then I told a really poor fake story of how I got to Winnipeg and said I had lost Viola for a few days before finding her dead just before the large snow storm hit (Ashley said that that was a mere snow storm compared to the real blizzards they'd faced before).

As soon as I finished my story, a brown-haired, green-eyed boy walked through the front door and saw my awake. He looked about sixteen and had a muscular build. He looked strong like a gorilla, but his personality when he smiled seemed much nicer than his body would tell.

He quickly took off his shoes and speed-walked over to me. He had bent down and asked if I was okay. I told him I was fine, but he kept insisting on doing anything to help him. I guess since he'd been through it before, he didn't want anything to happen to me.

Over breaks and at night, Jake and I talked often, mostly about how I got here. Unlike Ashley, he kept asking questions like a rapid fire machine gun. Once, after dinner, when Jake was cleaning the dishes, I asked Ashley about it.

She had laughed. "He gets it from my grandfather," she explained. "Some of us didn't get it, like my cousin and I, but I met my niece once. She is much different from my cousin. And she talks just like Jake."

Alex Jackson was a very polite and kind man. Originally from San Francisco, he had tanned skin, but he said that he used to be darker and that all of the years of continental climate (I had no idea what the heck that was) had lightened his skin tone.

I spent a week with them before heading back out on my adventure. When I had to go, I lied to them, saying I had relatives on the west coast. They offered me money for the trip, and when I refused, they forced me to take the money. Like I had said, they weren't that poor so it wasn't too much for them to buy a plane ticket to Portland, Oregon, though it did cut into their budget slightly. I felt guilty about taking the money for myself, but it would come in handy when I didn't feel like stealing.

My clothes in my duffel bag were all neatly washed, dried and folded. The water bottles had been refilled, though the ambrosia and nectar were still near empty. My pen and knife were returned to me, sitting in my right and left pockets respectively.

And with a final wave to the Jackson family, I began my way back to New York once again.

* * *

Snow fell lightly from the sky, landing softly and ela - elege - elegantly on the ground. Unlike the snow storm, the winds were quiet and calm. Everything was relaxed, though I was still getting used to the snow.

In my plans going ahead, I made sure that I was heading south, back into the warmer climate although the winter was turning to spring.

I made my final prayers to Viola, speaking into the sky. I wished her well in the afterlife, wiping a few tears away when they came to my eyes.

"Goodbye, Winnipeg," I called over my shoulder. I attempted to take a step forward, but an icy bronze sword was held at my throat before I could make a single move.

"I wouldn't move if I were you," said a dark voice behind me. It made every part of me tingle and it kind of sounded evil, yet I could tell there was some hesitance in his or her voice, like he or she didn't want to do this.

Still, the voice was commanding and I put my hands up.

"Alright," said the hesitant voice. I saw his grip loosen out of the corner of my eye. "Now, if you just-"

I slammed my fists down at the person's arms, managing to knock the sword out of the person's hands. I spun around creating a miniature snow tornado at my feet and uncapped Riptide. I wasn't at full strength yet so I was panting after the small effort, little puffs of water vapor escaping from my mouth.

Then the man (I could definitely see that the person was a man) quickly scooped up his sword and balanced it in his hand perfectly. "I was never the best sword fighter," said the man who stood at a towering eight feet tall. "But with Prometheus and I, I thought we would've won. Turns out they did and Athena replaced me."

I pointed my sword at him. "Who are you?" I asked.

He raised a white eyebrow. His entire body was white, including his clothing. His eyes were a bright white, seemingly reflecting Heaven, and his skin was as pale as Hades'. Like Hades, he looked like he'd spend millennia hiding underground or something. His clothes were white, a mix between modern clothes and ancient Greek _chitons_. It was like he wore modern clothes under the _chiton_.

He let out a bark of laughter. "The gods don't teach their children that well do they." He turned away from me, sheathing his sword and grasping his hands behind his back. "At least they're better than my brother."

He looked up at the sky. The man was clearly sent to kill me or capture me for certain, but he didn't seem very interested in doing so. Also, he talked about the gods as if he wasn't one of them. "If you're here to capture me or kill me or something, can we please fight?"

The man turned his head to me. His hair was gray and he seemed to have this aura of...certainty and knowledge about him. _Turns out they did and Athena replaced me._He was probably a god of wisdom or something like that.

"Very impertinent, you are," he noted. At my look of confusion he clarified, "Presumptuous? Insolent? Impudent? Rude?"

"Oh," I replied when I heard _rude_.

"Yes, 'oh,'" he mocked. "The gods are somewhat self-conscious, aren't they. At least they've made something out of civilization unlike my stupid brother." His eyes darkened.

"May I ask, who's your brother?" I said.

Snow fell around us and it was already pretty cold, but I suddenly felt a shock of freezing air tingle up my spine. The man turned his darkened eyes toward me. "It is not wise to say his name. He grows by the minute and soon he will wish to be free from Tartarus."

The evil voice entered my mind. "That...that evil voice coming from the pit is your brother?"

The man nodded. "Unfortunately, yes."

We stood in silence for a couple of seconds. _Who was this man? More importantly, who was his brother? Why was his brother trying escape from Tartarus? When?_Questions swirled in my head like a hurricane, the strong winds blowing my thoughts around in my head.

I raised my sword once again. "Who are you?"

"If you really don't know," said the man, "I will give you a hint. I am the god of the axis of heaven, but I am not really one of the gods. You see, I used to be imprisoned in Tartarus myself, yet I escaped, fleeing to the north to become what the mortals believe to be the star Polaris. I have hidden in the mountain ranges of the Rockies for thousands of years, coming to Winnipeg every so often, one of the coldest major cities in Canada."

I racked my brain for anything about a god of the axis of heaven, but nothing came. I was still too weak to think heavily and at the moment was hoping for good instincts. "Um...so you're not a god, but you're the god of the axis of heaven. That totally makes sense."

"It is true," he responded. "I will give you another hint: I helped overthrow Ouranos."

My eyes widened. The immortals that overthrew Ouranos were the Titans. Oceanus, the Titan of the Oceans; Iapetus, the Lord of the West and Titan of Mortality; Hyperion, the Lord of the East and Titan of Light; Krios, the Lord of the South and Titan of the Stars; Coeus, the Lord of the North and Titan of Knowledge; and Kronos, the Titan and Lord of Time and King of Othrys.

Wait a second, _Coeus, the Lord of the _North_ and Titan of _Knowledge. The puzzle pieces in my head fit together. I stared up at the man in front of me. "You're Coeus, the Lord of the North, Titan of Knowledge and god of the Axis of Heaven."

Coeus nodded grimly. "Yes. Correct, son of Poseidon."

"And I'm guessing Kronos is the one rising, and he wants you to kill me or kidnap me."

"Correct once again."

"Well I'm not going to let you take me," I said. I raised my sword and got in ready position. I pulled Triametalla out of my left pocket and sprung it open.

"I did not think so either." He sighed and unsheathed his sword. He gave a look that said that he didn't want to do this, but he had to.

Coeus said that he wasn't that much of a fighter, but he was really good with his sword. He was also very strong. He wore no armor, probably because he would rather have _me_ wound him than _him_wound me, so his muscles were easily seen through his clothes. They were big, and I felt like I didn't stand a chance. Coeus swung at my hip, but I dodged it and rolled forwards toward him. As quick as a viper, I reached up with my left hand and cut his cheek, and then rolled backwards, hopping back onto my feet. Coeus winced as a small line of golden blood trickled out of his cut, but he didn't falter. He continued pushing me on, fighting with tactics rather than strength or speed. He seemed to know every move that I would make, anticipating them at the last second.

Our swords clashed, bronze on bronze. I closed my switchblade and poured more strength into my sword to move it towards Coeus neck. As I applied more pressure, I noticed something thin spreading along my sword. It was shiny and glittery like... I jumped back and crashed into the ground hard. Luckily there was snow otherwise I probably would've injured the bones in my back. What had been spreading along my blade was frost, and it almost got my sword stuck to his. It had taken a great yank to pull my sword away from his dissolving all of the frosty particles of ice from my blade in an instant.

"Your lack of tact and intelligence through words is paid back by your amazing skill in your demigod abilities and sword fighting," Coeus complimented. He blocked a heavy sword strike from my right. It was like a hook punch except with a sword.

I pulled back as Coeus brought his sword overhead. As he swung down, I rolled to the side and lunged at the Titan, stabbing my sword into his left arm. He howled in pain and hook punched me with the hilt of his sword. I went down, my head throbbing. My vision went hazy and everything blurred up. I felt something hit my nose, hard. My eyes teared up, part of the natural reaction to getting punched into the nose hard enough. I felt blood start dripping down my face and onto the snow. Some of my blood got into my mouth, the blood metallic tasting. I licked my lips and threw my switchblade like a throwing knife, catching Coeus in the right shoulder.

My vision returned to 1290p and I saw two large lines of golden ichor trailing down Coeus' right shoulder and left arm. I did a quick check around me. There was nobody. Because I had just healed and regained my strength, I felt a little woozy when I moved, the blood dripping down from my nose like a leaking water tap.

"What demigod abilities?" I asked. I slashed at Coeus, cutting his left arm again, then spinning in a complete circle (was that three hundred-sixty degrees or three hundred-twenty?) and making a deep gash in Coeus' right wrist. His sword clattered to the soft snow which had trails of red and golden dotted all over it like a wild piece of art. Coeus made up for dropping his sword by kicking me in the chest. I flew backward into an small pile of snow, which I considered lucky because if I had hit regular ground then I probably would've broken half the bones in my body.

"The sea in you is strong," he said as I struggled to get back up. "You are smart beyond capabilities of normal children of Poseidon, though with his genetics you are bound not to use your intelligence much. I do admire that about you. You must understand that I do not wish for your death or usage, just that Kronos desires it and wants to overthrow his son, Zeus. I am the Titan of Knowledge, Intellect, and the Inquisitive Mind. I know what is right and what is wrong.

"I am also known as Polos, the Titan of the Pole, the north pole. I am the voice to my father, Ouranos, and he himself knows that if he were to return as ruler, the world would dissolve into chaos. Kronos will mess things up like he did back in the ancient times. The Golden Age was truly once the Golden Age, the time of prosperity and peace, but Kronos' lust for power ruined it all. He destroyed those in his way, acting just as our father had, caring nothing for the love of his wife or his children."

He was in front of me now, his shadow towering over me. His sword was gripped loosely in his left hand. Using all of my remaining strength I kicked Coeus' legs from underneath him, making him fall to his knees. I easily took his sword away and held it at his neck, just like he had earlier. The feeling of his sword was cold to the touch, seemingly freezing up the palm of my hand.

"Which is why I surrender," Coeus finished. "You have beat me fair and square. I can hardly fight with my right, let alone my left. You may finish me off, Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon and defeater of the Titan Coeus."

I didn't like showing off too often, but the sound of that did seem pretty cool. I mean, I was only twelve years old.

"Execute me," said Coeus. "Finish me off." He recited, as if he'd been planning to do that all along. Now that I thought about it, maybe with his Titan of Intelligence thing he did plan to lose. Doubt flared in my eyes.

"Did you purposely lose? Just because you wanted me not to fall into the hands of Kronos?" I asked, pressing the edge of the blade against Coeus' throat.

"I swear on the River Styx that I did not allow Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, to defeat me on purpose and that it was his skill that defeated me in the end." Thunder clapped in the sky and nothing happened to Coeus. "Like I told you, I am not the best fighter. I am known for my knowledge. You beat me fair and square."

I figured that was a valid explanation and began to move toward killing Coeus, but I re-thought about it. As blood dripped down from my nose to my shirt and the ground, I remembered that Kronos was in Tartarus and if I killed Coeus, he would return to Tartarus to deal with a going-to-be very angry Kronos. Either way, Coeus would suffer: hiding in Canada, in the north for eternity or dealing with a very angry Kronos.

I hesitated, but eventually let the sword drop out of my hands. I landed in the snow with a soft _thump_. "What is this?" Coeus asked, still facing forward. "Why have you not killed me?"

"Because you're not against me," I responded. "Go back to the Rocky Mountains and hide. Avoid any contact with the gods or the titans. They'll both be angry at you. If I kill you, you go suffer with Kronos and he gets mad at you. Hide in the Rockies and you won't have to suffer from the humiliation of getting beaten by a mere twelve year old boy."

Coeus thought about it for a second. With a sigh he nodded. "Deal. I swear to the River Styx to never make direct contact with the gods or the titans on purpose."

Thunder boomed.

"And I swear to the River Styx to take claim for defeating the titan Coeus, but to never send him to Tartarus on purpose," I said. Thunder boomed.

"The deals are done," said Coeus. "Now let us part, and go our separate ways. I will see you one day, Jackson. And do not forget your promise." And with that he walked off to who-knows-where.

I reached into my duffel bag and immediately ate some ambrosia and sipped some nectar. The blood and ichor on the snow slowly dissolved, probably the work of Coeus to disguise the red and gold from mortal police. I felt my nose stop bleeding, although it was still sore.

Just before the last bit of the ichor and blood disappeared, I picked up Riptide which was sitting on the ground next to me and pointed it straight up into the air. Even as the clouds covered Winnipeg, Manitoba, my sword gleamed in the daylight. "For Viola Blue! For Sally Jackson!" I yelled.

I made a silent prayer in my head, mourning the loss of two of the closest people I had ever met. But now I had some new, drastic information. The titan Kronos was on the rise...and it started years ago...ever since I'd been in Florida.

* * *

**Viola Blue is just an OC. She doesn't play a major part in the story, but is part of a theme to this story. I'll leave it up to you readers to decide what you think the theme of this story is. Contrary to the title, it is not only about being on the run, although it is a slight part of it. And guess what, Percy knows Kronos is on the rise. What will happen now that Percy actually knows something that the others do not. There are more giant hints as to what happened in Percy's childhood and next chapter is all about introducing that. Dun, dun, dunnnnnnn!**

**Percy's going back to New York. What are your predictions as to what is going to happen? Will anything happen to Percy on the way to New York? The past is back to haunt Percy. Leave your opinions via Private Message or Review.**

**Hey everyone,**

**This is just an experiment. It is actually going pretty well. ****I know, something similar has been done before, bla, bla, bla...** But I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing. Plus, vote on the poll.

**Question of the Chapter: Since when did Annabeth like Percy? (Book, event, age etc.)****  
**

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	16. Back to New York

**Hey everyone,**

**Thanks to all of the people who voted in my poll to see who Percy "meets." Now, there is a new poll. I do lots of thinking and planning ahead so I would like to know if people want this to the first in a series of stories or just one final story. If you readers want a sequel, it would go in the order of Sea of Monsters, Titan's Curse etc. However, it will not be like TTC: Perlia or the BotL: Perlia because there are some major changes in the story. Please go to my profile page to vote. Thanks once again.**

**Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thanks to all who reviewed in the previous chapter:  
erridius, Kitsune95, MexicanPr0digy, jkellz, Scaket, ArcticTempest, Mithun (Guest), LyingTruth123, Sorry that username is taken, Guest, & Justrockzyxxx.**

**Thanks for coming to this page and if you read it, thanks for reading. A heads up, this chapter is shorter and more of a filler.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Περσεύς 16**

**Back to New York**

It turned out that the gods decided to make this year extra stormy. It didn't matter where I went, what time of year it was or anything at all. The weather on my trip back to New York got progressively stronger, a tornado even ripping through Chicago while I was in it. Thunderstorms became more frequent and many died because of the freak weather.

It was because of the freaky weather that I paid more attention to the news and anything related to the weather. There were reports of almost eight hundred tornadoes around the United States since the beginning of the year, January 1. Apparently, that was like three-quarters of the amount of tornadoes in a regular year. Thunderstorms had been extremely frequent in Florida, killing over one hundred people already. Scientists had predicted that almost one thousand people had perished because of the freaky weather.

It wasn't a lot considering the United States had a population of over three hundred million, but a considerable amount of people had died. To add onto that, any flights coming from Europe to the United States had been going down in squalls. Some planes had survivors; other planes just disappeared. In fact, anything that passed over the sea or travelled on the sea had crashed, submerged or disappeared.

If the gods were angry, this wasn't some simple argument. Why would they kill hundreds and hundreds of mortals like this if it were a simple argument?

I climbed up onto shore of Upper West Side after taking a dip in the Hudson River. As soon as I lifted myself out of the river, I flopped onto the ground and lay there, panting and catching my breath.

Not only was the wacky weather affecting me, but my rush to get back to New York had also tired me out. It took two and a half months to get from Winnipeg to Chicago (I got really lost), and then the only train ticket that I could find at the time which left quickly was to Newark, New Jersey. Then I had to walk, run and swim to Manhattan...so I was pooped.

Lightning flashed in the sky, thunder following immediately. _Crack!_ Another flash of lightning and boom of thunder. _What's got Zeus' panties in a twist?_

I got up and stood, staring out at New Jersey, taking in slow, deep breaths. _Whoosh!_ The waves pounded at the shore of the Upper West Side. I frowned. _What's got my dad's panties in a twist?_

I turned around to face the looming skyscrapers of Manhattan to my south. Compared to the last time I'd been to New York, everyday life seemed to be...smoother. Cars drove by, spraying puddles of dirty, mucky water onto the sidewalk. Back before I had run away, the entire town was scared and wary of terrorists who destroyed both of the Twin Towers, a part of the Pentagon and worst of all - a poor field of grass in Pennsylvania. Or maybe it was a field of wheat...

Rain pattered down lightly, but grew in intensity as more thunder clouds rolled in toward the city.

I crossed a couple of streets and found myself on the infamous street of Broadway. The day was ending so the streets weren't heavily packed like they usually would've been if it had been midday. Still, cars and people crossed streets, traffic quite busy like the usual.

Quite a bit had changed since I'd been here last. I noticed that there was a Starbucks where on old bookstore used to be. The feel of the environment was also different, New York probably gaining population while I had been gone. Every step that I took seemed like another mistake, some of the street patterns having changed while I was gone. No longer was New York the place where I couldn't get lost at least a little bit. Eventually I could get out of the maze, but everything just felt different.

More lightning cracked and thunder continued booming outside. I blast of lightning arced down at the Empire State Building, the lightning rod soaking up the electricity and sending it back down into the ground.

"What's wrong with the weather this year?" I heard someone say. "First, that massive hurricane swirled in and now thunderstorms!"

"I know," another person replied. "It's probably just climate change."

The voices faded away as the people who were talking disappeared from my hearing range. I looked around for any signs of the people who I just heard, but there was nothing. The sidewalks were getting more congested now, the amount of people leaving work growing. I assumed rush hour would be soon.

As Central Park entered my vision, I sighed sorrowfully. Soon it would be four years and nine months since my mother's death.

"Move it, kid," said a man, pushing and shoving his way through the crowd and knocking me out of my thoughts.

"Rude," I muttered.

The traffic light heading east-west turned green and the white walking man appeared aligned with the crosswalks. Two giant blobs of people shuffled and shoved their way to the other side, as if playing a game of _Get the Hades Out of My Way!_

I entered Central Park and found myself at a place that stirred up old memories. _Rudin Family Playground_.

_Mom! Mom!_ a six year old me yelled. _Look at me!_I called as I swung on monkey bar-like thing. I wasn't sure what it was called, but it sure was fun to swing across them like a monkey.

My mom laughed, but warned, _Watch out, Percy. Be careful._

_I'm careful, mom! Look!_ Then I fell off and landed with a _thud_ on the ground. _Ow._

_Oh, Percy,_sighed my mom as she went to help me. I ended up getting up by myself and swinging across them two more times before falling hard to the ground.

I chuckled at the funny memory, but my smile disappeared almost instantly when I remembered what happened after.

I had fallen off of the monkey bar-like things and hit my head on the ground. It hit the scar on the left side of my head and I had grabbed my head in extreme pain. It had hurt a lot. My mom jumped in again to try and help me, but when she noticed that I was grimacing, her face contorted into one of concern.

_Percy? Are you alright? Did something happen to the side of your head?_she asked.

I quickly shook my head to deny it...but I was lying. My mom could tell. Only after years could I tell that she knew exactly what was going on, but couldn't do anything about it because of my demigod scent. I think I figured it out a few years ago, but hadn't really come to that conclusion yet.

I grimaced as I closed my eyes. She sacrificed so much for me and I let her die. I took a breath in and remembered what I told myself after Viola's death. _I would not die now. I would fight for Viola. I would live my life for her and I would not allow anyone close to me to ever die._ This time, I added, _I would fight for Sally Jackson, my mother._I knew I couldn't keep that promise forever, but I would do my best.

Lightning arced down and once again hit the lightning rod of the Empire State Building (the only reason I could see it was because I could see Olympus and lightning would always strike right underneath it).

I looked up into the sky, the only thing seen were thunderclouds rolling in. I could feel my exhausting journey from Winnipeg reaching my brain, sending signals to my body to fall asleep. I yawned and stretched my arms out. Cars still zoomed by and pedestrians still roamed the sidewalks. Lights were starting to turn on, though there was enough natural light left to illuminate things.

Children started heading home with their parents, their school days coming to a close. The one thing I really enjoyed about being on the run was that I didn't have to go to school. I mean, it wasn't like I was going to learn anything if I actually went. It would have mostly been complaining about my dyslexia, causing ruckus with my ADHD and falling asleep as the teacher taught us what one plus one was over and over for the extremely dumb people.

I yawned again and my eyes started drooping. I hadn't slept in the past forty-eight hours and I was ready to collapse from exhaustion anytime. I quickly searched for my temporary home for the moment - a dumpster - finding one close to East one hundred-fourth and third. I patted my pillow of thrown out candy wrappers from Sweet on America, my mom's old candy shop, and pulled my blanket of rotten fruit peels over my body and fell into an eventful series of dreams.

* * *

I found myself back at the edge of Tartarus, listening to the goading voice of Kronos.

"Weak fool," he seethed. "Do you really think that the gods will be able to take me down? Just because you warn them, you will not halt my rise. But in the first place, what makes you think they will believe you?"

The possibilities flashed through my brain, but I quickly eradicated them. Kronos was trying to manipulate me, change my mind, and do something stupid. I fought his will and yelled into the darkness. "I'm not afraid of you! You're just a big bully!" At least, I wanted to yell that into the darkness, but my voice didn't work in the dream.

A cold feeling rippled through the dark cavern and my will instantly crumbled. Fear coursed through my body and I shivered. I thought the voice would make some sort of logical argument or something to do with talking, but all Kronos did was laugh.

It was creepy, the sound worse than brass bells or maybe Dean Martin's greatest hits. Imagine a guy laughing, while scraping a knife against a stone wall, the worst music you've ever heard playing in the background and the distant screaming of innocent children.

I shuddered. After a while, the laugh slowly receded and all became quiet. The only thing that I could hear was a cold breeze and very distant howls of monsters that had been sent back to Tartarus. Despite feeling the chills, I couldn't move or speak at all. A dry, raspy voice took a breath in. "It is sad that you cannot speak in dreams, but answer this. Are the gods really better than the titans? I promise that I will save Western Civilization as I only wish to see Olympus and the gods eradicated from this world. Tell me, boy. Are the gods really better than the titans?"

The question rung in my head as my vision tunneled and my dream changed locations. It was a quick dream of Kronos, but it held a lot of meaning. Were the gods better than the titans? After all, my uncle killed my mother and my other uncle wanted to kill me, but couldn't because my father always kept eyes on me. I also had the feeling that many of the gods disliked me because I was born of a broken law. Did the gods really judge by whom I was born by rather than my merits?

All of those thoughts were swept out of my head when the new dream clearly appeared.

I didn't recognize the place, but it looked vaguely familiar. I didn't think I'd ever been to that city before, but I had seen pictures. If I was correct, it was Philadelphia. I recognized two of the three people in the dream. Luke and Thalia were there, all scratched up and bleeding a little. Thalia popped a cube of ambrosia in her mouth and continued moving on. She and Luke were holding their weapons. Thalia had Aegis on her left arm and a new spear which was completely celestial bronze. It looked...more impressive than her previous wooden-shafted spear. Luke also had new weapons. He held a shiny sword, completely bronze, hilt, blade and all, and a shield...a regular shield. The one person I did _not_recognize was the other girl.

She had pretty blonde curls for hair, sort of like a princess', and stormy gray eyes. If I could make a sound in dreams, my breath would've hitched. The girl was definitely a daughter of Athena with her witty eyes, the blonde hair deceiving the look of intelligence written on her face. She was scanning her surroundings, those gray eyes seemingly calculating every possible move. The girl held a dagger in her left hand, holding dangerously. She looked about eleven years old and looked as if she'd run away from home years ago.

"Where are we going, Luke?" the blonde girl asked.

"I'm not exactly sure," Luke responded. "We'll head up north toward Maine. It won't be cold at all. June is nearing so we can stay up there. Down south is very, very hot during the summers." He and Thalia shared a look. "Trust me. We know."

"Is it okay if we stay on the east coast, Annabeth?" Thalia asked. "We've had some trouble with being in the west in the past."

Annabeth frowned. I tried not to look at her as if she were a dumb blonde. "Didn't you say you were from Los Angeles?"

"Like I said," Thalia repeated. "We...especially me, have had trouble with being in the west. I don't really like talking about it, though..."

As Thalia trailed off, Annabeth nodded. "I understand." Somehow, I believed that if she had been younger when this happened, she would probably pester Thalia to tell the truth. I wasn't sure why I was thinking that, but I guess even my dream-self had ADHD.

They stopped in front of a KFC and stared at the entrance.

"Should we eat here?" Luke asked. "I still have the money I stole from that rich dude."

"Though I am very impressed with your pickpocketing skills," praised Thalia, "you shouldn't have stolen his whole wallet, take the cash and then throw the rest into a garburator." Luke pouted like his mugging spree had been cancelled. But Thalia wasn't finished. "We could've stolen his ID and then blackmailed him somehow."

Luke laughed and high-fived Thalia. Annabeth shook her head, but she had a smile on her face. I kept noticing that she stared at Luke often, an emotion unreadable in those intimidating eyes of hers.

"Still. Are we going to eat here?" Luke pointed to the KFC.

Thalia and Annabeth looked at each other. And then they both shrugged. "Sure, why not."

All three of them entered the KFC and got in the lineup. The line was pretty short and they got to the counter pretty quickly. However, they weren't done choosing what they wanted so when they got up to the cashier, all of them were still staring at the menu. They stood there, looking at the menu for at least a minute.

The people in the line started getting agitated and impatient. The cashier noticed this and spoke for the first time. "May I suggest maybe a family meal, a Variety Bucket?"

Thalia, Luke and Annabeth glanced at each other grinned. Luke nodded, "We'll take the Variety Bucket. The family meal." Luke, Annabeth and Thalia locked eyes with each other. "Family," Luke repeated and the dream dissolved into nothing.

My dream conscious was still awake, but it seemed like there weren't going to be any more dreams for tonight.

* * *

All was quiet and still for a while, my dream conscious never resting back and falling asleep before I drowsily woke up. I sure got a surprising wakeup call though.

"Don't sleep in dumpsters, kid," said the garbage man. He had a cigarette in his mouth and threw it down onto the ground and stomped on it. "It ain't sanitary." And then he loaded the garbage truck with the garbage from the dumpster I'd been sleeping in. After, he got into his truck and drove off.

I blinked and yawned, stretching my arms out. I squinted as light flooded back into my eyes. The smell of the smoke from the guy's cigarette finally reached my nose and I looked down. _Should the garbage man not litter?_The guy's cigarette was still on the ground. I shrugged it off and looked up into the sky. The weather was still bad, lightning flashing in the gray sky.

I coughed into my sleeve, the smell of the garbage still in my nostrils. Just to explain how bad garbage smells, imagine being ankle deep in a pile of cow manure . Poor farmed cows.

I licked my lips and yawned once again. My mouth opened and oxygen flushed through my lungs. Then the air rushed back out and my yawn was complete. It was a new day and a new time. It was time to tell the gods of Kronos' rise.

I looked around for my duffel bag and when I couldn't find it, alarms went off in my head. _Where was my bag? My stuff! Oh crap!_I searched around, but I still couldn't find it. The only thing left in this alley was an empty dumpster and a lonely cigarette that had been stomped on the ground. I cursed and checked my pockets. Riptide and Triametalla were still in my pocket, which I was glad of. At least I still had my weapons.

I sighed tiredly and decided to move on without my stuff. I could always get another bag and other stuff.

"Time to go tell the gods," I said.

* * *

I was walking down Seventh Avenue, trying to make my way to the Empire State Building to warn the gods of Kronos. Midtown was packed, pretty much no spot on the sidewalk without a person walking on it. It was difficult to try and push past people because you'd only find yourself trapped in between two other people. I didn't help that I was a twelve year old kid.

Lightning flashed in the sky again and my urgency level increased. _I need to get there now!_

I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I saw an alley meant for cars branching out from the main sidewalk. I breathed a sigh of relief as I shuffled my way left.

"Excuse me," I said as I pushed my way through the crowd. "Sorry. Coming through. Excuse me."

I finally broke free of the crowd and entered the alley. I sighed once more as I looked back at the packed street behind me. I took a glance forward and didn't see as many people on the other side. "Why don't they just take that street?" I asked myself.

I continued walking all the way through. I breathed in the fresher air as the pedestrian traffic congestion was much less than Seventh Avenue.

Less lights flashed here compared to the area around Times Square, but I felt that it was better. The Times Square area was too closely packed together for my liking. Sometimes I hated the fact that I was claustrophobic.

I turned to the south, to my right and bumped into a man. I raised my head to say sorry, but when I saw his face, I nearly dropped dead from shock. The man in front of me looked surprised at first, his face full of shock, but when he realized who I was, his facial expression turned into an evil grin.

"Well, well, well," he said. "Isn't it fancy meeting you here," he stated.

I backed up from him, my hands out to keep him away from me. I'd faced hundreds of monsters before, most of them hellhounds, but the beast in front of me scared me more than all of the monsters put together. In front of me was the man who had tortured me, and had nearly killed me. I knew him very well.

"Eddie! Jack! Thomas!" he yelled. Three guys who were talking near the entrance of a store we were next to turned their heads my way. Two of the guys let out maniacal barks of laughter, but the third guy looked at me with the slightest tinge of sympathy.

"C'mon," he said. "He's just a kid. He's older now, but he's still a kid."

"Shut up, Eddie," the bald man in front of me said. "We'll enjoy this."

Jack and Thomas cracked their knuckles, slowly advancing on me. My eyes were wide with fright, and alert as my heart thumped in my chest.

I was so busy focusing on staying away from the guys advancing from my front, and trying to keep my fear in check that I didn't see or hear the other guy behind me until it was too late. A fist smashed into my skull and I dropped to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

**Cliffhanger, though with the knowledge everyone has about the Percy Jackson & the Olympians, you should know what's happening next...he he he. I hope you don't hate me for ending the chapter as soon as something interesting happened, but we'll save that for the next chapter. And I hope it'll be longer. Thanks for reading :)**

**Hey everyone,**

**This is just an experiment. It is actually going pretty well. ****I know, something similar has been done before, bla, bla, bla...** But I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing. Plus, vote on the poll.

**Question of the Chapter: Which gods dislike Percy in the Titan's Curse?****  
**

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	17. The Worst Beast of All

**Hey everyone,**

**Thanks to all of the people who voted in my poll to see who wanted a sequel. Now, there is a new poll. I do lots of thinking and planning ahead so I would like to know what you want the next story to be called. It is the Sea of Monsters. However, it will not be like TTC: Perlia or the BotL: Perlia because there are some major changes in the story. Please go to my profile page to vote. Thanks once again.**

**Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thanks to all who reviewed in the previous chapter:  
Justrockzyxxx, Steven3270, FaTaLClanWii, redlox2, Drewdragon, Sorry that username is taken, Bartimaeus12, AyameRose, BeautfiulNoMatterWhat, LyingTruth123, percyjason, Kitsune95 & NightmarishStar.**

**I'm sorry for changing Percy's personality a bit over the series, but I just don't have the time to reread the previous chapters to see what I portrayed him as. If you don't like it, I'm sorry.  
**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Περσεύς 17**

**The Worst Beast of All**

I woke up groggily, feeling like I was tied to a wooden chair.

I yawned and opened my eyes. I was in a very familiar room. The color of the room was an aqua blue, sea greenish color stained with beer and chipped in various places. The floor of the room was littered with beer cans and a dirty, dusty mattress was placed upright against the wall behind me. A broken lamp was on the floor, the owner of the apartment never bothering to clean it up. There were many picture frames that hung on the walls or stood on tables, but only a select few actually had pictures in them.

I smiled fondly as I saw a little five year old kid with jet black hair and sea green eyes smiling at the camera with a goofy grin on his face. He had that brooding look that seemed to brand him a rebel; he was someone who was disobedient. A woman in her thirties was behind him, also smiling at the camera. She had a warm smile, long, straight brown hair, and sparkly blue eyes. There were a couple of strands of gray hair on her head, but it didn't make her look old at all.

"Mom," I croaked out. Then I coughed.

My stomach felt sore and I just realized the ringing in my head. I looked down and saw that my hands and ankles were tied to a chair. I tried moving, but I guessed that the chair was super glued to the floor or something. I tasted something in my mouth...then I realized I was partially gagged. My heartbeat pounded in my head as my heart pumped blood up into my brain.

Suddenly, my vision blurred and I felt dizzy. I remembered the events from the previous day when that _beast_ and his friends surrounded me and succeeded in kidnapping me. I assumed that my stomach was sore because _he_punched me in the gut several times.

I heard muffled speaking and the sounds of shifting feet. I heard the sound of a chair being scraped along the hardwood floor out in the living room, and the sound of heavy footsteps dragging their way to my room. The sound was like that of an elephant's, loud and heavy. But they were also kind of like a water buffalo's, noisy and clumsy.

The door creaked open, pushing some beer cans out of its way, like a jet ski carves a path into the surface of the water regardless of the current of the water. A fat man came into the room.

The guy looked like a tusk-less walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had a huge double chin, so big that it could've passed off as a triple chin. He held a permanent scowl on his face, probably from actually having to work for once. He was breathing heavily like he'd run a marathon just to get up from his stupid poker table and come here. However, when he saw me glaring at him, he grinned evilly and the stench from his mouth passed through the air and into my nose.

I would've coughed my lungs out if I hadn't been partially gagged. His breath smelled heavily of alcohol and tobacco. As a matter of fact, he was chewing tobacco at the exact moment. He also smoked heavily, though he wasn't at the time.

"So," Gabe said, "what brings you home?"

I was still scared of Gabe, but I tried to channel the fear into anger. "I didn't want to come here," I said. "You kidnapped me!"

"No, no, no," he said, coming up to me. He punched me in the gut. "You came back. I'M. SO. GLAD. TO. SEE. YOU." With every word, he punched me in my stomach. Each time I winced, but never faltered. I'd suffered worse pain than this.

"So you're tougher now, huh?" Gabe asked rhetorically. "Well, in that case." He reached for something and examined it in his hands. My eyes went wide with shock as he covered my mouth with his dirty, greasy hand. I struggled to move, but Gabe kept me still. I was only twelve. What more could I do?

He held Triametalla up and examined it. "Such a pretty piece of weaponry. Now why would you be carrying this around for?" He stabbed it into my left arm cruelly. "But we don't want you getting hurt do we. It would be a horrible thing to have you die." He called out to one of his friends. "Thomas! Get the first aid kit!"

About thirty seconds later, my arm still in pain from the wound, the guy named Thomas entered the room. He was much more fit than any of the others, probably because he was the youngest, but he had been influenced by Gabe and Eddie and Jack so he began a life of poker, beer, smoking and torturing young children. He hadn't been here when I was younger, but he probably heard twisted up stories about me from Gabe. Gabe whispered to me, "Thomas here was trained in CPR and treating wounded people. He could've been a cop, but he quit his job to come help me in my elicit business."

I snorted. "Didn't think your peanut brain knew the word elicit."

Gabe's eyes flared and I shrunk away from him, more blood trickling down my arm. Thomas growled, "Stop moving or you'll bleed out."

"You'll learn to shut your mouth when you're asked to," Gabe snarled, "or I'll shut your mouth for you."

I nodded earnestly. Gabe was the one monster I was truly afraid of. Hellhounds, piece of cake. Kronos' _dracaena_, easy peasy. Ismerian drakon, I could manage. But Gabe...no. I could snap when I wanted, but he'd find a way to scare me. I could try and fight, but he'd find a way to intimidate me. Those were wounds that would not heal. When I was younger, he'd do horrible things to me. Maybe not as bad as being chased by hellhounds for eternity, but he did some bad things to me.

As Thomas fixed my arm up, and Gabe resisted the urge to kill me then and there, the lyrics of Crawling by Linkin Park came crawling back into my head. The chorus defined my life well. When I first heard the song, I had always thought it related to child abuse.

My emotions started swirling about inside of me and flashbacks flipped through my head. Whenever I thought about what Gabe had done to me, I felt like crawling in my skin and hiding away from the world, to isolate myself from the world. The emotional _and_ physical wounds he gave me never went away, the memories only getting tucked into the back of my brain. And that was why I always feared him. I was afraid to get hurt again and my life had broken down at home when my mom was working. The fear caused my behavior to change. My mom had always said that I was a carefree and happy person, but I remembered days when I hid from everything, dreaming of the day that Gabe might murder me in my sleep. I was young, but I knew what death was, and I was not looking forward to it. My fear and hiding caused me to believe everything was an illusion. Once, my kindergarten teacher had called home because I was yelling 'Don't kill me! Don't kill me!' during math class, scaring all of the other students. Over the past few years I had hidden that feeling, but I had always known it wasn't a matter of _if_ it would come back, but rather _when_it would come back.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when two thick, meaty hands grasped my shoulders. "Are you listening to me, boy?" Gabe snarled.

"Yes," I replied timidly.

I received a punch to the jaw. "No you weren't," Gabe snapped. He stood up from his kneeling position and acted like he towered above me. He glared down at me with icy cold eyes. "Since your stupid mom died because of you you stupid, idiotic piece of crap, you're going to be my servant. You won't fulfill all the needs your stupid mom had to, but you gotta clean the house, cook food and do my laundry. You understand?"

"I'm not doing any fu-"

Gabe punched my jaw. "You understand?"

"I'm not going to b-"

Gabe punched my face again. I could taste some blood in my mouth, and my tongue hurt a lot, two signs that I bit it. The right side of my face ached, but I managed to squeak, "Yes."

I sounded like a hamster, or a guinea pig, which did not seem like a good sign.

Thomas and Gabe left the room, Thomas taking long, healthy strides, and Gabe dragging his heavy feet along the floor, probably creating a ceiling-quake for the people below this apartment. The door slam shut as Gabe gave me one last look of hate, sealing me from most of the light and fresh air.

My eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness as I had to do before while traveling alone on the streets and I tried to locate my things.

Darkness was a thing that seemed to haunt you, humans feeling more comfortable around light because it was easier to see. But in fact, if you knew how to navigate in the dark, it wasn't so bad. Darkness concealed things and hid them in shadows so that you felt lost, but if you've learned not to panic - at least, not too much - then you know how to stay calm, cool and collected.

After a minute of adjusting to the darkness and a few more seconds to find my stuff, I breathed a sigh of relief. All of my stuff was there: my duffel bag, Riptide and Triametalla. The only thing was that Triametalla was open and stained with blood...my blood.

Riptide was still in its pen form. Gabe would never think that the pen was anything special so with the tiny little brain of his, he decided to leave the pen. I thought he would burn my duffel bag or something, but I guess he was being nice this time. _Oh who am I kidding? He's probably going to burn it tomorrow while I'm scrubbing the damn toilet._

I let out a weak chuckle.

_Look at me. I'm trying to make myself laugh with sarcastic thoughts. Maybe I am going crazy again._

I looked back down at my bag. If only I could have taken my iPod out and listened to some more music. Certain songs could help calm me down and try to make the best of the situation. I wasn't sure which, but there were probably songs that I had that could calm me down. Maybe some song that could make me fall asleep, though not because it sounded dull. The song could be soothing and relaxing like nature and the wilderness.

There was only one thing that I knew I could not do at all while I was stuck here in my old apartment. The thing I couldn't do was to stay positive. I mean, how would you feel if you were stuck in the apartment of your old abusive stepfather who wanted nothing more than to kill you right now, but resisted because he was too stupid and lazy to throw my body away.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't help but feel terrified, lonely and secluded. My old bedroom was big, but as time passed, the walls seemed to shrink and close around me. My claustrophobia kicked in and I suddenly scrambled. The room hadn't change a bit in the last few seconds, but I suddenly started hallucinating. I wondered if it was the stab wound or the punch to the head that did me in.

A cold voice echoed in my head, "Use your anger. Fuel yourself. You want _revenge_."

I knew it was Kronos. I knew he was deceitful, but there was something in his voice that tried to fuel a spark inside of me, as if Kronos needed me somehow. I wasn't sure if he wanted me on his side (which was never going to happen) or if he wanted to fight me (which I was confident that I would lose), but he was definitely influential.

I remembered the legends where Kronos twisted the minds of mortals to do his work for him. It kind of reminded me of Gabe having my mom do all the work for him in which he benefited from it. That just increased my fear of Kronos.

Kronos and Gabe were a lot alike; in fact, both acted like kings, ordered servants to do their work for them and claimed all of the power in the social chain.

I was shaken out of my thoughts when I heard someone yelling. It wasn't loud, but it wasn't quiet either. I couldn't exactly make out entire sentences, but I heard "boy" and "punishment." That didn't sound good at all.

More footsteps pounded against the floor and the man named Eddie burst in. He walked up to me and untied the ropes that tightly secured my hands to the chair. My hands finally felt loose, and a tingling sensation traveled up my fingertips.

"Your hand is numb, but you'll get used to it," said Eddie. He seemed much kinder than the previous guy I met, Thomas. His eyes were a warm brown color and they held sympathy. "Now Gabe's gonna be pissed if I let your hand go free so when we get down the stairs, I'm gonna have to hold your hands behind your back and act rough with ya. Alright?" He yanked the gag out of my mouth.

I nodded grimly. "Why are you being nice to me?"

Eddie sighed as he led me out of the room. "Because I never wanted to hurt you. It's all Gabe's fault. He has a gun. Once, he threatened to shoot me if I ever told anyone about his illegal money gambling and drug deals."

I raised an eyebrow as we reached the top of the stairs. Did I not tell you that it was a two floor apartment? He inherited it from my mom who allowed him to live here after my mom's friend, who was the owner before, gave my mom this apartment.

"I didn't know he did drugs," I said. I shook my head to clear my vision and took a deep breath in to calm myself.

Eddie came up behind me and grabbed both of my arms and yanked them behind my back. He shoved me forward and mumbled quietly, "Ever since he moved here he's been buying illegal drugs and selling them for a higher price. Once he tried to force your mom to snort cocaine."

When he shoved me forward, I stumbled down a few steps, only keeping my balance with Eddie holding my arms. Rage started boiling inside of me when I heard what he tried to force on my mom. I cursed Gabe in every language I knew...which was three: English, Greek and Latin. I wasn't sure how I knew Latin at first, but ever since I sneaked into public computer labs and started using them, I found a few new words in Latin.

Why learn Latin? Well...I kept seeing X's, I's, L's, C's, M's and D's (which were Roman numerals) and I got interested in confusing people by going, "Did you know that there are 'L' states in the U.S.A.? Did you know that there are 'LXII' counties in New York State and that I live in the New York County, aka Manhattan."

I laughed to myself as Eddie put on his act. He pushed me forward, causing me to stumble again. We turned the corner and I saw Gabe and Thomas and Jack and some other unknown guy playing poker together. Gabe, Jack and the unknown dude had cigarettes in their mouths, laughing, farting and belching together. Thomas didn't have a cigarette, but he was drinking a can of beer. ESPN blared on the television, some talk show about football (the American kind).

"What are you laughing at?" Eddie said firmly. He pushed me once again and Gabe and his poker buddies all snapped their heads up toward me.

I looked out toward the balcony where my mother had died. The sun was setting over in the west, beams of red, yellow, orange and pink light shining against the dark clouds that settled high in the sky. Lightning was no longer flashing, but Zeus still seemed a little angry. He was probably watching me get beat up and laughing his ass off.

Gabe grinned. "Boys. Looks like our cook is here."

The other guys grunted.

Gabe turned to me. "Make us meat loaf. Jared'll supervise you while you're cooking."

"Come on Gabe. You're a cheater. I totally shouldn't have lost," Jared, the unknown guy, said. He said a few more obscenities before reluctantly giving in and accompanying me to the kitchen.

Before I went, though, I gave Gabe a look of exasperation. "How the hell am I supposed to make meat loaf?"

"Just make it."

"I don't know how to."

Gabe turned to me, a cold fire seemingly burning in his eyes. "You don't make it; you earn a fist to the jaw. So find a way to make meat loaf."

"Then tell me how to!" I exclaimed.

Gabe stood up from his chair, spun around and hit me in my jaw with another meaty fist. "Don't talk back to me like that. This is my house. I am the king of this place and you will listen to my orders. If you don't know how to make it, learn!" He kicked my stomach and made me sprawl onto the ground. "Now get up you little baby and cook the damn food!"

Despite how much I was afraid of Gabe, I also hated the walrus-man too. If I had the guts to, I would've stabbed that man a long time ago. Actually, if I had a knife in my hand at the moment, I probably would've attempted to kill him. I knew my instincts were better than his, I knew my reflexes were better than his, and I knew my fighting skills were better than his, yet I still allowed him to punish me brutally.

"I don't know how to cook meat loaf," I croaked. I was bleeding and bruised, but I could still fight. Gabe tried to stomp down on my stomach, but I rolled away and hopped to my feet. I immediately went to jab at Gabe's face and Gabe's eyes went wide with terror. I grinned cruelly and followed through with my jab, nailing Gabe in the eye. I was so happy that I finally hit Gabe that I allowed Thomas to come in, trip me up and pin me to the floor.

Gabe was holding his left eye, blinking rapidly to check for any damage. When he deemed himself to be okay, he turned to me, glaring like I had stolen his poker chips. He kicked me in the stomach again, hard. Then he kicked again and bent down to my face. Thomas let his foot go from my chest and Gabe grabbed my neck. He didn't suffocate me, but his grip was strong, like a viper's. "You don't ever attack me again," Gabe threatened, "or else I will make your life here a living terror."

"Who said I'd be here for the rest of my life," I replied uncontrollably.

Gabe kneed my chest and let go of me. "Jared. Take him to the kitchen and tell him to put in the frozen pie. We'll have that for dinner."

Gabe stared down at me and I stared back. We both glared harshly, neither backing down. Jared picked me up and pulled me to the kitchen.

I was probably going to go down, but I was not going to go down without a fight.

* * *

That night, I was tied back up to the chair and allowed to fall asleep peacefully. My tongue was no longer bleeding and cuts on my cheek had quickly turned to scars when I placed my hand under the sink. It was unfortunate that only natural bodies of water could completely heal fresh wounds. My stomach hurt from the pounding it took from Gabe and my chest felt sore from Gabe's knee. All in all, I was in decent shape, my form looking like a bloody and bruised kid.

More dreams entered my mind as I fell asleep that night. Like the usual since I'd neared New York, I dreamt of the dark cavern of the Underworld. I dreamt of the entrance to Tartarus.

The dark, cold, creepy chills flowed around me, but this time, I wasn't alone. The spirits of the dead surrounded me. Their ghostly images flickered, showing young men and women who had died young.

_Beware, son of Poseidon_, they hissed. _Traps. Trickery._

I was near the edge now, about ten feet from falling in. Then suddenly, I heard two voices echo from either side of me. An image of the blonde girl, Annabeth, and a satyr flickered on both sides of me. Annabeth was to my left, and the satyr was to my right.

Annabeth looked slightly older in this dream, though not by much. The satyr, however, I had never seen before. He was short for what he looked like. He was about my height, but he had a wispy beard. His hair was curly brown, tiny little horns just barely poking out of his mess of hair. He had brown eyes, fair skin and hairy, brown goat legs.

"This is not right," Annabeth said to me. "We have to leave."

"Annabeth is right," the satyr said. "I smell monsters...a lot of them."

I wanted to say something, but I couldn't. I could never say anything in dreams.

Annabeth's eyes focused on me and her eyes widened. "No. He can't be. Even if you have been here before, the likelihood of you being correct is like a one in a million chance. It's like finding the number five in the midst of four hundred sixes. It's like-"

"Okay, Annabeth," said the satyr. "We get it."

Annabeth blushed a rosy red. She opened her mouth to say something, but a dark voice interrupted her. It came from the pits of Tartarus, where monsters respawned...sort of like a video game or something like that. The world's greatest threats were trapped in there for eternity, loathing the gods and wanting to tear them down.

_Come, little ones_, the dark voice said. _You're only a step away_.

"Move," Annabeth ordered and I felt myself being pulled away from the pit of Tartarus. On both sides of me, the satyr and Annabeth moved back. The force pulling me away from Tartarus became stronger as Annabeth sprinted up the slope with me. The satyr trotted up the rocky slope and bleated nervously.

Then, a cold wind blasted out of Tartarus like it had when I was there. It started pulling me in, which happened a lot in my dreams of Tartarus. Now two forces were tugging against me, one pulling me toward Tartarus and one pulling me away. They were playing tug of war and I was the rope (which I didn't appreciate at all).

Annabeth and the satyr struggled to break free from Kronos' grasp, but they eventually did. It was up to me to escape and we would be free together to go wherever we were meant to go.

But then the force pulling me away from Tartarus faltered and I started slipping. Annabeth and the satyr started calling my name, desperately wanting to save me, but not brave enough to get caught in the cold wind Kronos blew forth.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled one last time before I fell off of the edge and plummeted into Tartarus. Kronos' laugh echoed across the entire chasm and as I hit rock bottom, my dream exploded into dust.

But not everything was complete. Kronos' raspy voice scratched my brain. _You are brave and spirited, but if you will not join me, then you shall live your greatest fear._

I had always thought fear was more Phobos' area, but I guess evil masterminds had to know the weaknesses of others. My dream shimmered and a scene appeared before me. When the first two people entered the room, my eyes and brain nearly fell out of my head. This was my worst memory from when I was five.

My mom and Gabe had just entered the room and they were arguing.

Gabe was yelling at my mom. "Why can't you just throw your stupid kid out? It's not like he's important."

My mom's eyes flared. "Don't talk about my son that way. He's my son. You agreed to marry me even though you knew I had a child."

"So what?" Gabe replied carelessly. "Doesn't mean you can't throw him out? Besides" - he touched my mom's butt - "maybe we could-"

My mom punched Gabe straight in his nose. I continued to watch, horrified. I hadn't known this had happened. I thought my mom was always nice to everyone, even Gabe. But I guess no one could stand being around that useless piece of garbage.

Gabe got angry and hit my mom across her cheek. Then he pulled her close to him and grabbed her butt once again. My fury built and I felt like stabbing Gabe multiple times in his eye. Then he reached up with one hand toward her chest to try and snatch her breasts.

Rage boiled up inside of my dream self so much that I could only see blue and green. If it had been real life, I probably would've blown up all of the pipes in the apartment and drowned Gabe by filling his lungs up with so much water that it burst and destroyed his internal organs.

Then an alarm clock from the dream broke my concentration.

Gabe and my mom stopped fighting and my mom broke free from Gabe's grasp. She straightened out her hair and fixed her Sweet on America uniform. With a glare, she said steely, "If you'll excuse me."

I watched as my mom went up to my room and woke me up gently. At first, she tried patting my shoulder, which didn't work. Then, she tickled my nose, which made my nose crinkle. Lastly, she whispered, "Blue pancakes."

My five year old self's eyes shot open and he yelled, "Where?"

My mom laughed and my five year old self pouted. "That's mean, mommy."

"Well," my mom said as she tapped my nose, "at least you get blue pancakes. Some of the less fortunate don't get blue pancakes."

"What's foru - fortunate?" My five year old self asked.

"The people with good luck and fortune are fortunate. Things are more favorable for them," my mom explained. "That means they get more things. The people with less money, also known as the poor, are less fortunate so they get _fewer _things. The people with more money, also known as the rich, are more fortunate so they get _more_things."

"Oh," my five year old self nodded. "I still don't get it."

My mom ruffled my hair. "You have no school today so be a good boy and make sure you don't blow up the sink again."

"Okay, mommy."

With that, my mom left my room to go to work.

After that, my five year old self went to go brush his teeth. He finished a couple minutes later and went downstairs to watch SpongeBob. Gabe didn't have his friends over yet so ESPN wasn't blaring on the television.

However, before my five year old self could get to the television, Gabe appeared out of nowhere - the kitchen - and stood in front of me, glaring. Now that I looked at him, I realized that his eyes were glazed slightly as he held a knife.

"Mommy said that knives are dangerous and that we shouldn't hold them like that," my five year old self said.

"You are ruining my chance to bed your mom," Gabe sneered. At the time, I had no idea what he was saying, but now I did. That disgusting pig wanted to sleep with my mom, and I hoped she refused every single time.

"What?" my five year old self asked.

Gabe brought the knife down to me and pinned me to the ground. "Ahh!" my five year old self yelled. "Help!"

Gabe lowered the knife to my five year old self's face. "I could throw you out, but your mom would be mad. I could teach you a lesson, and maybe you'll stop being so annoying." He got a glint in his eyes. "Yeah. I could teach you a lesson, and you'll stop being so annoying." He pressed the blade to my five year old self's face.

My five year old self whimpered. "Help," he squeaked.

Gabe traced the tip of the blade along my right cheek and chuckled sadistically, even though he hadn't hurt me yet. Then he stopped for a second, pondering on where he should've put the knife. After a few seconds of thinking, he made his mind up and started making a small scar on the left side of my head. It was very shallow, but deep enough so that a little blood trickled out and a scar would form when it healed.

My five year old self started crying, but Gabe's evil grin never faltered.

I watched, grimacing, as Gabe finished making the cut on my head. "Now run along, brain boy," he said. "Use paper towel to cover that wound. It'll heal eventually."

The dream started fading out as my five year old self, who was bleeding, cut and terrified, ran away to get something soft and wet to cover my head. That night, I hid myself in my room and cried until my mother came home. She tried to soothe me, but to no avail. I remember her rubbing the wound on my head like she knew it was there. Well...she probably _did_know it was there, but didn't speak up because she couldn't. I remembered the steely look of anger in her eyes when she located the cut, but I was too young to make anything of it.

And then my eyes shot open to a new day.

* * *

It was two days later when I got angry and frustrated.

Gabe had forced me to do things around the apartment, even threatening me with a baseball bat and his gun, a Glock 17 pistol.

I was very bloody, yet I had to make food for Gabe and his buddies. Gabe continued punishing me every time I spoke out of line, or did something wrong. He would always compare me to my mother.

"I told you to make pie, not this garbage," Gabe yelled. "You're so stupid. Pie is easy to make. If you make it wrong this time, I'll punch that recipe into your head. And don't get your blood into the food this time, brain boy!"

I hate this. I wasn't the sort of person who followed rules, no matter how much it was repeated to me. However, this was a completely new experience. Gabe was much crueller than before, injuring me any time I made a slight fault or slip-up.

"Well if you didn't beat me up, then I wouldn't bleed all over your food!" I retorted.

A hand slammed into the side of my head. I grunted and collapsed to the ground in a pile of flesh, bones, organs and blood. I struggled to get up.

"Get up you little baby," Gabe sneered. "You mom wouldn't do this bad of a job."

I spat some blood on the ground and glared up at Gabe. "That's because you wouldn't punch my mom every freaking time she spoke-"

Gabe punched my again. "Don't talk and do your work. Clean up all of this blood, do the laundry, and make the goddamn pie!"

He strode off back toward his poker table where his friends were waiting for him to return. ESPN continued blaring, the people on screen arguing about random sports that Gabe would never be able to play. The guys on the television were still talking about football, but I couldn't exactly tell with my face being punched every time I messed up.

My ears were ringing and I felt a headache start to form. A small amount of blood trickled down the left side of my face from a cut just above my eyebrow. More blood trailed down into the tissues that were harshly stuffed into my nostrils. I licked my lips, which had been cut, a major one scarring my upper lip, and tasted more of the metallic-tasting fluid that humans pumped through their bodies.

_Now_, I thought to myself. I went upstairs to the room that they kept me in every night. I found Triametalla sitting on the floor next to Riptide. My duffel bag had been burned in the fireplace by Gabe last night. It wasn't like I needed it...except for the ambrosia and nectar which was now gone. I put Riptide in my right pocket and Triametalla in my left pocket.

I walked slowly downstairs so that Gabe wouldn't hear me. I hope none of his friends could hear me either. I reached the bottom of the stairs and peeked around. Gabe and his friends were still playing poker and swearing at each other. I sighed in relief and made my way to the entrance. Halfway there, I was halted by a, "Whoa! Where are _you_going?"

I turned around to see Jared. I cursed when I realized I had only seen three of Gabe's friends playing poker with him.

"Hey, Gabe," Jared called. "The kid's trying to sneak out!"

I heard the sudden shifting of chairs and quick, heavy steps toward the entrance. Gabe appeared, Thomas, Jack and Eddie following him. "Now where do you think you're going?" asked Gabe. "You're supposed to be making pie."

He stepped closer to me, so close that I could smell his tobacco breath. He grabbed my arm and threw me to the ground. I had taken such a heavy beating that I was weak enough to be thrown to the ground. Then, Gabe stepped on my chest. "You're useless, just like your mother. You may be worse than your mother, but she was the worst slave I could ever have gotten. She never slept with me, always fed me small meals and never did everything I said."

I growled, rage slowly starting to return to my body after remembering the way Gabe had abused my mom and tried to force her into something she didn't want to do.

"What more? Oh yeah, she was addicted to making sure you were okay. I asked her to throw you out to pay me more attention, but she said no," Gabe growled. "Your mom was a useless, self centered..." He went on to list obscenities to horrible to hear or see.

And that was when I snapped. I was completely fine with people making fun of me, as long as it didn't hurt deeply. I was used to taking the blame for everything, but when you say hurtful things to the ones who were close to me...I would never allow it. Make fun of me all you want, but make fun of my mom or Viola, then you would get the worst beating of your life.

A rush of energy passed through me like it did every time I went into battle mode. I could sense my eyes change colors, showing my emotions from inside. My blood flowed through my veins like the ocean currents. It violently swirled through my body and I made my first move.

I swiped at Gabe's legs, making him topple over. Before anyone could react, I pulled Triametalla out of my pocket and slammed the butt of the knife into Thomas' temple, knocking him right out. I moved to Jack next, slamming the butt of the knife in between his eyes, making him stumble back a little bit. Then I did something I called the _thunderclap_, where I brought both of my hands out to the side and slammed them together like I was clapping except hitting the head of my opponent. Jack crumpled to the floor.

I quickly did a spinning back kick into Jared's soft spot as he advanced on me. He squeaked an octave higher than his normal voice. Then I _thunder clapped_him as well. I turned on Eddie and mouthed a 'sorry' to him. Then I made a hook and knocked Eddie out in one hit.

I looked down to the ground where Gabe was lying down, grimacing as he probably hurt his back, though how he did with all of the fat of his was a mystery to me. I kneeled down next to him and put my left knee onto his fat chest.

"Hey, Gabe," I said, looking into his eyes. "Not so tough now are you?"

Gabe looked up at me, real fear settling into his eyes. I laughed as he shook his head, scared. "I'm not afraid of you anymore, Gabe," I told him. "I've seen worse things than you. I know what you did to my mother. I know that you tried to sexually assault her."

Gabe kept shaking his head.

"I should kill you and end all of this for me, so that I can rid the world of all foul beasts," I said, sounding smarter than usual...or maybe it was just the word placement...

"But..." I really considered my options.

If I killed him, would I really gain anything? Would stabbing him really give him the death that he earned? I easily made my decision and slammed the butt of the knife onto the side of his head, knocking him out cold.

"I'll be back," I said. "With a much more painful death for you."

It wasn't like me to be cruel, but mess with my friends and family, and that's what you get.

My headache kicked in as I exited the apartment building. I walked along the streets down First Avenue, a little wobbly. My face felt dry and solid at some parts, like the blood had hardened around my skin and created another layer of _stuff_on my face. I was sure I looked ridiculous, but I kept walking.

Lightning was flashing again, thunder booming in the sky and clouds rolling in from the southeast.

Rain soon began to fall and I got wet. The water washed away some of the caked blood on my face and I wondered if my dad brought this storm in to help me. After all, he _was_the storm bringer.

I continued on my path to the Empire State Building, feeling more lightheaded than ever.

It felt like forever before I entered the lobby. I walked up to the security guard on duty and said, "I need a key to Olympus."

The guard raised an eyebrow and looked me over. For a second, I thought that maybe he was a regular mortal and I should start running away before this guy called straitjacket patrol, but he answered. "Lord Zeus is angry. Nobody's going up or down Olympus."

My patience wore thin. I leaned over the desk and grabbed the guy by the collar. "Give me the key to Olympus now! I need to speak to the gods. There is a bigger threat coming." I took out Triametalla and held it to the guy's throat.

He gulped. "All right." He handed me the key. "Put it in the security slot. Make sure no one is in the elevator when you use it."

I did as he said. When I inserted the key card into the security slot, a new button appeared. It was red and was labelled 600. I pressed it and waited.

Music started playing. "Raindrops keep falling on my head..."

Finally, _ding_. The doors opened and I stumbled toward Olympus. I was sure it looked marvelous, but being on the verge of passing out, I didn't have time to admire it. I hazily saw tree nymphs throwing olives at me, but I gave them a glare to sending them scurrying. I was nothing like myself...everything around me was confusing.

I saw handsome looking teenage boys and girls lining up to get something that looked like ambrosia on a stick. But I kept walking.

I continued to walk and stumble my way to the main palace in the middle of Olympus, the throne room. I coughed again, blood splattering on my jacket.

I tumbled into the throne room, falling to the ground as twelve gods stared at me in astonishment. I coughed once again, the face of a black haired, green eyed man appearing above my face before I slipped into unconsciousness...again.

* * *

**Hey everyone,**

**This is just an experiment. It is actually going pretty well. ****I know, something similar has been done before, bla, bla, bla...** But I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing. Plus, vote on the poll.

**My character development sucks doesn't it.**

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	18. The Home of the Gods

**Hey everyone,**

**Thanks to all of the people who voted in my poll to see who wanted a sequel. Now, there is a new poll. I do lots of thinking and planning ahead so I would like to know what you want the next story to be called. It is the Sea of Monsters. However, it will not be like TTC: Perlia or the BotL: Perlia because there are some major changes in the story. Please go to my profile page to vote. Thanks once again.**

**Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thanks to all who reviewed in the previous chapter:  
****Guest, The Typhoon Guardian, Sobekton, LyingTruth123, Justrockzyxx, FaTaLClanWii, Wolfking57, the hotpocket hunter, erridius, kingdom219 & crazychick44.**

**The story is near the end. Only five more planned chapters to go before the final ending chapter linking this story to the next. Please vote on the poll because I will be starting the next story as soon as this story is complete so if you want to choose the story title for the next one, vote. Wow...I sound like some sort of politician or something. VOTE FOR THIS! Except that I'm not saying for "Vote For Me" but rather "Vote For _This_." Hope this chapter finally satisfies your burning desires for Percy to go to camp. I know some of the earliest reviewers (who may or may not be following this story anymore) wanted me to send him to camp quickly. But it comes after sixteen chapters. Dun, dun, dun.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Περσεύς 18**

**The Home of the Gods**

When I began to regain consciousness, I felt a bright white light all around me. Everything was bright unlike the darkness of being in Gabe's apartment.

That led me to wonder what happened to the guys that I had knocked out. Did they call the cops? Did they try to report me for being some kind of lunatic kid? Then my brain flashed to the part where I held a knife above the face of Gabe.

Today I realized that I was a liar. I could never deliver my promises. I was taught one way, and I acted a complete other. I swore to do something, but I couldn't even face my own problems without trembling in fear. I felt prideful for being able to take down Gabe, but I also felt weak when I allowed myself to get beaten by him. I shouldn't have...if I could face monsters, I could face Gabe, right? Before, I wasn't sure, but now, I was. I could definitely take Gabe on starting from now.

He wasn't terrible and he was definitely just repulsive. He'd tortured me when I was young, but I should have grown angry from that as I grew older. If I'd run into him when I was younger, maybe eight or nine, sure I could get freaked out.

Light seemed to reflect from all sides as I tiredly opened my eyes. A dazzling gold and white room appeared before me, and the smell of medicine filled my nostrils. I breathed in heavily and sat up. I didn't grimace at all despite being beat up until I was bloody. A man sat next to my bed looking over me with shining blue eyes. _Apollo._

"Hello Apollo," I said. When I saw that I was in the infirmary on Olympus, I quickly corrected myself. "Uh, Lord Apollo."

Apollo waved his hand. "Don't. Make's me sound old."

"But you are."

"That's beside the point." Apollo glanced around and leaned closer to me. "Did you really do it? Did you take _it_?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, confused. "Take what?"

Apollo concentrated and stared at me. I felt kind of uncomfortable. It was like he was using his godly powers to see if I was lying, like a lie detector except I couldn't hear any beeping. He was continuously staring at me and I started to wonder if he'd zoned out. Despite my dad being there for me a lot of times, I'd learned that gods didn't really take mortals too seriously and were usually self-centered.

After a minute, Apollo finally shook his head. "Nope. You're not lying."

Then a fact sprouted in my head. "Wait. Aren't you the god of truth?" I asked Apollo.

He nodded.

"Then why did it take you one minute to determine whether I was lying or not?"

He chuckled. "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about this girl that I hooked up with. I think she might be pregnant. Another Apollo kid for Camp Half-Blood." He pumped his fist like getting a woman pregnant was the best thing in the world.

As I continued to stare at him kind of disgustedly, he flashed in a piece of paper. He took a pen out of thin air and scribbled something on it. Then he handed it to me. "Your prescription," he said.

I looked down at the piece of paper and sighed. "Lord Apollo. I don't even have to try to read it twice to know that you didn't even write in English. Maybe all doctors in the world _are_your children..."

Apollo narrowed his eyes at me, but didn't say anything in return. I found it just as creepy as when Apollo was thinking about the girl he...you know, what? I'm not even going to finish that thought.

More silence settled and I got fidgety. I started absentmindedly playing with medical supplies like the needle that was on a tray on this table-like thing.

"So..." I trailed off. I didn't feel comfortable resting while I let a god sit and stare at me, and I definitely didn't feel comfortable sitting here doing nothing. "Um...are you having a good day?"

Apollo stayed still for a moment before blinking and shaking his head like he'd gotten out of a trance. "Uh, yeah. How's that iPod I gave you? It work all right?"

"It did...before my step dad burned it. Err, at least he threw it in the fire. I dunno what happened to it after that," I explained.

Apollo suddenly straightened and stood up. He looked down at me and beckoned me forward. "Come. Don't infuriate dad. Or he's going to order someone to blast you to bits."

I pulled the sheets off of me and sat up straight. I felt no pain at all from the beating I got from Gabe and his buddies who were probably forgetting that they all got beat up by a twelve year old in a fight.

Apollo walked in front of me. "Ambrosia and nectar _does_help you. Here" - he held out a cube of ambrosia - "eat this. You'll feel better than you have in a long time because the last time I helped you with your wounds was years ago when I gave you the iPod. When you were ten, right?"

"Yeah."

He nodded and grinned. "All right. Come on."

I followed Apollo as he led me through the twisting corridors of his part of the palace. I passed by many empty hallways, the walls gleaming gold like the sun so that I almost felt blinded. Finally, when we reached the main room, bows and arrows hung on the walls. There was this one golden arrow with a black tip labelled "Black Plague." I didn't think that had anything to do with healing.

There were engravings into the walls, pictures of death and triumph, success and failure, and even more. I saw this one picture of a boy holding up what looked to be a swirling vortex and a female fighting against a much larger male. In the background there seemed to be other people, but the lone color of gold made it much harder to tell.

Apollo opened the front entrance of his part of the palace and we exited. I was brought out into another hallway that led down a few doors. We walked right from the entrance of Apollo's section. We passed by Ares' and Hephaestus' parts of the palace and continued walking down one enormous hallway.

About two minutes later, we finally reached the main throne room. I heard a booming voice coming from the throne room which I assumed was Zeus. The loud, proud voice quieted down and a firm, but lighter-toned voice spoke up. I couldn't exactly tell who it was, but I assumed it was Athena or Artemis because I doubt Aphrodite would speak like she was planning for war. I couldn't have been Demeter, but maybe Hera.

Apollo strode right into the room and went to his throne. He took his iPod out of his pocket and started listening to music. Lots of heads turned my way, twelve to be exact. I saw my father who was looking at me worriedly, but with a mask on to make himself look like a prideful god. I saw Hermes who gave me a discreet nod, but there was no trace of smile on his face today. I looked at the head throne and saw Zeus staring at me with pure fury and hatred. Hera was beside him, giving me a cold, but curious stare. Demeter examined me like she was trying to tell if I ate enough wheat products or something. Aphrodite glanced at me, but quickly went back to putting on makeup and eyeliner. I think I stared at her for a little bit too long, but in my defense she was the definition of beauty. Ares looked at me and seemed to scoff, like I was a weakling. I could totally take him on. Hephaestus spared me a glance, but continued to work on something that looked like a mechanical bat. Not baseball bat, but bat as in the animal. Dionysus looked at me with disgust and turned back to some sort of magazine. Artemis and Athena gave me equally terrifying stares, but for different reasons. With Artemis, I suddenly felt like I was turning into some wild animal for her to hunt, but with Athena, I felt like every single one of my nerves were being destroyed, the non-fatal ones first. The last goddess to look at me was a human-sized woman at the hearth. She was different than the others, who were wearing more modern-like clothing like jeans and T-shirts and suits (for Zeus).

She wore a brown robe that covered her from shoulder to toe. She also had a brown scarf wrapped around her head. I could see mousy-brown hair sticking out of the scarf. Her eyes were pits of fire, but they looked warm and cosy. I glanced back at Ares. He also had eyes that were pits of fire, but they looked cruel and like the burning of cities.

I turned back to the woman and gave a reluctant smile. Hestia smiled back and confidence filled me. Hestia went back to poking the hearth.

"Perseus Jackson," said Zeus. He put on a bittersweet smile, but it was layered over intense anger. "What a pleasant surprise to see you _interrupt_ our meeting all _bloody_ and _bruised_."

"Uh...sorry?" I said, though it sounded more like a question.

"SORRY!" thundered Zeus. "Do you know what you have done? You will give my bolt back to me or I will incinerate you this very moment!" Thunder echoed far off into the distance.

"Wait!" I held my hands up. "What are you talking about? I don't have a bolt. Besides, what in the world is going on? What bolt..." I trailed off.

_Bolt. Bolt. Bolt._ What did Zeus own that had _bolt _in the title? His master _lightning_bolt. I was kind of confused on how he could make lightning and thunder without it though...

"Yes," Zeus yelled. "You have stolen it and you _will_bring it back! Return what is rightfully mine!"

"Are you kidding me?!" I yelled. "I don't have your Master Bolt. I'm slow, but not stupid!"

Zeus stood up, and thunder rumbled again, seemingly filling the palace. "First, you interrupt our council about where it has gone and now, you deny stealing it!"

"It would be wise to listen to father," Athena put in. She gave me a cold stare that sent shivers tingling up my spine. "For if you do not, war will be brought and you will be the first to feel Zeus' wrath."

"War?"

She pointed to my father and I tilted my head in surprise. Poseidon wasn't his normal carefree self that like hanging out with people. This was a completely different version of my father. His masked face had dissolved and an angered face had replaced it. My dad's sea-green eyes were dark and almost blue, like the washing waves of a tsunami. Unlike some days, my dad's expression was clearly visible today. He was angry..._really_angry.

"You will not harm the boy," my dad said. "Not if you want them safe." He held his gaze to Zeus. Zeus growled.

"He is the thief. You tried to steal from me. Where have you gotten the boy to hide it?"

"I am _not_the thief. Your pride has blinded you, Zeus. I am perfectly content with being the ruler of the seas. If you have to worry about anyone trying to unseat you, it's Hades."

That seemed like a pretty reasonable explanation to me. My father was usually happy, so why would he want to become the King of the Gods? It would make more sense for Hades to take his revenge, for he was exiled to the Underworld.

"But Hades wouldn't have stolen it," my father continued. "Something of his was also stolen."

"I don't care!" yelled Zeus. "If you have my bolt, you will have the fight of your life."

My father stood, looking angrier than I'd thought was possible. He grabbed Zeus by his collar and glared, their faces inches apart. "And if you dare to hurt my son, she will never be safe wherever she goes. When Hades find out-" my father chuckled "-rather, when he gets to her, she will be hurt, if not killed."

I looked around at the other gods. Some of them, like Athena, Ares and Hermes, were actually paying attention to the fight. Others, like Dionysus, Aphrodite, Artemis and Hephaestus, weren't paying any attention at all.

"Honestly," Apollo put in, "Uncle Poseidon couldn't have stolen it. I mean, why would he? He can't be the thief."

"I agree with sunshine," Aphrodite said, adjusting her hand mirror. "It's not like Poseidon would want to throw you into Tartarus. I think that's more of a Hades issue, like Poseidon said. Plus, I loved playing with his sons' love lives." She squealed. "They were so interesting."

"You think my temperamental brother did _not_steal my bolt?" Zeus snapped. "Treason!"

Athena nodded. "Poseidon would obviously want to unseat father because he's not the king. Of course, like the power-hungry god he is, he would want to become the most powerful god," she scoffed. Athena and Poseidon gave each other cold stares.

"You call me power-hungry?" My father dropped Zeus from his grasp and stepped toward Athena. "Have you not looked at your father once in the past few millennia? He is so power-hungry that he swallowed your mother because he was told that one of his sons would overthrow him."

"I agree with Fish Breath," Ares said, sharpening his nails with his dagger. My father gave Ares a pointed look. "Why would he take it? What's the point? Does he look like someone who would kill all life to be the King of the Gods?"

Athena turned on Ares and they started arguing. Meanwhile, Zeus turned to me with even more anger in his eyes. "You will pay for what you have done." He pulled out a sword out from behind his throne. I guess he used it as backup of when he didn't have his Master Bolt.

My eyes widened and I scrambled backward. Zeus stepped forward and Apollo burst out yelling about healing. Suddenly, the entire council burst into arguments with comments ranging from "this is pointless" to "men are all pigs" to "you are a stupid, brainless boar."

Zeus lunged forward at me with the sword, but my father came out of the crowd of Olympians and blocked the attack with his Trident. "Do you want me to reveal your secret?" my father hissed.

Zeus and Poseidon stopped pushing their weapons at each other, but held them at bay across their chests. "You wouldn't dare. You swore by the River Styx not to."

"If you don't hurt my son!" my father yelled and everything continued to turn into chaos. Zeus and Poseidon put away their weapons and started fighting using their fists. Athena and Ares were into a heated argument about war and which side to join. Artemis and Aphrodite were arguing about love and which side to join. Apollo, Hermes, Dionysus and Hephaestus were arguing about which side to join. Demeter and Hera were discussing about how pointless this was and how Zeus "loves that _thing_more than me."

I was lying on the ground staring up at the chaos. Thoughts swirled through my mind. I came here to tell the gods about Kronos rising, but the fact that Zeus' Master Bolt was stolen turned my info session into a wrestling match. Ares was now cheering on Poseidon and Zeus as they wrestled on the ground. Aphrodite had stopped arguing with Artemis and was clinging onto Ares' shoulder. Athena and Artemis were having a minor dispute about who to side with.

I turned my head to the hearth at the center of the room which had, miraculously, not been damaged in this mess. Hestia was poking at the coals, shaking her head at her messed up family. She turned to me, like she'd sensed me staring at her. She beckoned for me to come toward her.

I slowly walked forward to the hearth and stood beside her. "Hello, Percy."

I bowed awkwardly. "Lady Hestia."

"I am sorry you have to endure this," she apologized. "However, it is a tough time for the Olympian family. My youngest brother's Master Bolt was stolen and the oldest brother of the three had his helm stolen."

I laughed nervously. "Uh...what?"

"Two of the three most powerful weapons in the universe have been stolen, but by whom is unknown to me," Hestia said.

"But why would Zeus accuse me? I don't even know what the bolt looks like. Does it look like a lightning bolt, or does it look like something else?" I exclaimed.

"I am not a violent goddess, but I do know about the weapons of the gods," Hestia said. "Zeus' Master Bolt is a two-foot-long cylinder of high-grade Celestial Bronze capped on both ends with god-level electrical explosives. I disapprove of my brother's relentless use of the bolt, but I cannot control him all the time, however."

I looked back at the fighting gods. "I need to tell the gods something important. Can you somehow make them listen to you? Like make the hearth blow fire or something?"

Hestia looked back at her family and sighed. "Very well. Step back, son of Poseidon." She flicked her hand and the hearth blazed a steaming red fire. It rose fifteen feet in the air, the size of the gods and caught the attention of everybody. All of the gods stopped to look at Hestia. When they saw her disapproving face, they all returned to their thrones.

"Now," said Hestia in a kind, quiet voice. "Listen to the son of Poseidon. He brings bad news."

"What news can be worse than my missing bolt?" grumbled Zeus.

"Be quiet," snapped Hera. Zeus and Hera were married, but they seemed to have their fair share of arguments.

"What is the bad news, Percy," my father asked. All of the gods looked at me expectantly, preparing for some lame news about something that was barely harmful to them. They probably expected that I would complain about Hades or something, but when I said what I said, everything turned so silent that you could hear a pin drop.

"Kronos is rising."

The hearth's flames sputtered and Hestia fought to keep it strong and high. Every god and goddess was silent and stunned.

Zeus was the first to recover from shock. His face turned purple and thunder echoed across the palace. "You dare lie to cover up the theft of my Master Bolt?"

"I'm not lying!" I yelled.

Athena looked completely stunned. "But...that's impossible. We defeated him not long ago. He can't be rising again."

"Son," Poseidon said to me. "Are you sure it was not a dream? Not all of your dreams are true. Some are exaggerated truths."

The rest of the gods murmured to themselves or the people next to them about what I just exposed to the council. My father tried to reason with me again.

"Are you sure? I am always here for you and will never allow you to get hurt or kept inside magical places that affect your imagination and memory," he said.

I scowled. "Yeah. Says the dad who left me in a magical hotel for five months without even helping."

"You said you wanted a challenge!"

"I didn't think that I'd be stuck in some place for five freaking months!"

My father looked kind of guilty, but he deserved it. It was over a year and a half since then, but the fact that he almost left me in there past my birthday kind of put a twist in our father-son relationship. Plus the whole fact that he was a god and couldn't see me every day like a normal father affected that too.

"Outrageous," boomed Zeus. "I _should_kill him right now," he said to my father. "But for her sake, I will not."

Hestia glanced at me to try and take the knowledge of what I had seen and determine whether I was telling the truth. I met her gaze and stared into the warm pits of fire without faltering. There was just something about Hestia's aura that fed me confidence. When she found the truth, she looked away and started poking the hearth sadly.

"Are you telling the truth?" Hermes asked. Today, he acted like he had in Las Vegas almost two years ago. He was not talking to me as much and acted more like the messenger for the gods.

I nodded.

"But it is improbable," stated Artemis. "Is it Athena?"

Athena looked torn between telling the truth and what she wanted to believe. To save her from deciding on what to say, I spoke up. "I've seen signs of Kronos rising myself. Unlike previous belief," I looked pointedly at Zeus, "I have been travelling the country for the past five years and only reached New York a few days ago. I went to the Underworld-"

"Underworld?" Poseidon said, eyes wide.

I nodded. "The Underworld. I got caught and almost killed by Hades-"

"He should've killed you," grumbled Zeus.

I continued like I'd never been interrupted. "-but the Underworld was overflowing and he didn't want a war so he let me free. Me, being obtuse, decided not to escape and just roam around. I walked through the Fields of Asphodel, watched people get tortured in the Fields of Punishment and saw people play in Elysium and the Isles of Blest. Then I made the mistake of turning toward Tartarus. I walked down and nearly got sucked into Tartarus to be used for the prophecy by the Titans. When I escaped, I realized that I'd been in Kronos' presence when I was nine in Florida. Then I rushed back to New York to try and warn you about his rise.

"As I passed through Wyoming...I think...I found a little demigod. Her name was Viola Blue. I believe she was a daughter of a minor god, but she became like family to me. We only spent three months together. I got lost in Winnipeg and Hyperborean giants we somehow angered killed her." My voice sounded strained at this point. "Then I decided to get vengeance on her by living my life out. I killed Coeus and made it back to New York four or five days ago."

"Did you say, _Coeus_?" my dad asked, his eyes even wider. "As in the Lord of the North, Titan of Intelligence and God of the Axis of Heaven?"

I nodded.

"And you killed him?" asked Apollo, a slight hint of praise in his voice.

"Well...in his defense, he wasn't that great of a fighter," I said.

"Are you kidding me!" Poseidon exclaimed. "All of the original Titans, plus Atlas, were good fighters. And you killed one of them!"

I glanced at Apollo and through his lie detector and my thoughts, I basically told him that I didn't kill him. He couldn't exactly tell what I was thinking, but I didn't want him to know that I let him go.

"Coeus told me of Kronos' rise," I said. "The Titans are slowly regaining their strength."

All of the gods turned to Zeus, who looked hesitant in believing my story. "I still think you are the thief, but if you aren't, find the bolt and return it to me. Check Hades for it, or maybe go steal it back from your father-"

"Paranoid," muttered Poseidon.

Zeus flashed him an angry glare but continued on. "Whatever the case may be, return the bolt by the summer solstice or you will be blamed and earth will be torn apart by war."

"But it wasn't me! What if I don't get it, but I get proof that it wasn't me! Then you can't blame me!" I tried using logic, but it was not my specialty.

"Get it back," ordered Zeus. He leaned back in his throne. "Council dismissed."

Slowly, with the horrifying fact of Kronos rising implanted into their godly brains, the gods and goddesses, except for Zeus, Hestia and Poseidon, filed out of the room. Ten seconds after the first movement, the last footstep echoed down the hallway and all went silent.

"Brother," said Zeus, who still had his head in his hands. "If you just return the-"

"I did not take it," my dad said steely. "You will think about your arrogant pride while you wait for the return of your Master Bolt." He turned to me. "Percy, follow me. We must talk."

He strode out in front of me, out the front entrance of the throne room. I gave one last look to Hestia and smiled warmly at her. She returned the favor and I smiled. I think I was beginning to gain the complete respect of more than one god or goddess.

Before I stepped outside, Zeus called out to me, "Boy. Don't dare to fly in my domain, because if you do, I will cast you down to earth and it will be your last sensation."

And with that, I stepped out of the throne room.

* * *

"You must be careful," Poseidon warned. "You must head to camp, Camp Half-Blood. It is a safe place where you can eat food without stealing it. Believe me, you have probably landed on the United States Fugitives list."

I thought about that. That didn't sound very good.

"Well," Poseidon reconsidered, "maybe not the fugitives list, but you will be wanted for stealing."

I stood there, thinking about my life on the run. At first, I only left because my mother had died. I'd lived on the streets and stole to be able to survive. At first, it was like a new start to life. It was another way to move on. But it was also tragic. I was a wimp and watched two demigods get murdered in front of me. I was a wimp and needed the help of a god to defeat a pig. I was a wimp and nearly got killed by a drakon even after two years of living on the streets. I was a wimp and left two people at the mercy of a magical hotel. I was a wimp and let Viola die. I was a wimp and allowed myself to get beaten up by a man who couldn't fight.

I needed a fresh start. I wanted to start anew, again, though never forgetting my past. It would be what fuels me to become a better person. I would do everything I didn't do. I would gladly sacrifice myself for any friends I make. I would fight monsters without the help of a god. I could defeat almost any monster because I already beat a Titan. I would not let my friends get hurt. I would not let them die.

"Use the Mist," I said abruptly.

"Pardon," my father said. "What are you talking about?"

"Use the Mist to cover my crimes," I said. "I'm making a fresh start. To achieve success-"

"-you must learn from your mistakes," my father finished. "Another one of your mother's advice."

Poseidon sounded less sad when he talked about my mom now. It seemed as though he had moved on. I guess it was expected because he was a god and they tended to move on quickly. Poseidon probably fell in love with another mortal and was waiting for the opportunity to actually 'love' her.

My father smiled at me. "Do not misunderstand my tone. I still love Sally. She was a queen among mortal women. However, from personal experience, I know that gods tend to get...um...concupiscent a lot. The gods, that is."

"What's concupiscent?"

My father shifted on his feet slightly. "Lustful. Sexually aroused. How do the mortals usually describe it? Oh, yes. Horny."

I stared at my dad for a couple of seconds. Then I blinked. "Let's pretend that I never asked that question, okay? I don't exactly feel comfortable talking about that because it's not like I'm going to go around ban-"

"Yes, yes, yes," my father interrupted. "But, I will cover your mistakes for you. For a fresh new start." He snapped his fingers and a wind rippled through the air. It seemed to resonate around the entire world. Poseidon smiled. "There."

"Thanks, dad."

"No problem. And, uh, sorry about leaving you in the Lotus Hotel for five months," he apologized, which was probably really hard for a god. "I always knew you would make it out, though."

"Well, it's not like I got stuck in there for five _years_, right?" I asked.

Our father-son relationship mended slightly.

"To start anew, you must follow the trail," my father said. "And remember. You are a true son of the sea god."

I smiled despite myself.

I nodded at my father and saluted playfully. My father saluted back at me, like we were in the navy. We laughed and my father led me to the elevator back to the bottom floor. "Be careful, Percy. Everything is much more than it seems."

And with a mysterious wink, he dissolved into a sea breeze.

* * *

I exited the elevator, grinning as the security guard gulped once again at my presence. I walked out of the front entrance of the Empire State Building and took in my surroundings. I had just exited Olympus, the streets of Manhattan now surrounding me.

Cars zoomed by and people walked along the sidewalk.

"Follow the trail," I muttered to myself. "What's the trail?"

A piercing howl ripped through the air.

I turned my head toward the direction the sound came in. "That's the trail."

And I burst down the sidewalk, sprinting in and out of pedestrians on my way to camp.

* * *

**THIS ENDING IS NOT A CLIFFHANGER! I REPEAT, THIS ENDING IS NOT A CLIFFHANGER! This ending is just the beginning of his trail to camp. Hellhounds, bla, bla, bla... Other monsters, bla, bla, bla... Minotaur, bla, bla- OH NO! I JUST SPOILED SOMETHING FOR YOU GUYS! I'm totally not going to tell you guys about the next monster I'm adding in the fight because Percy is actually experienced. I'm totally not going to tell you guys that Percy is not going to be beasting and feasting. I'm totally going to tell you guys that I'm using apophasis which is a rhetoric appeal for writing and speaking. I'm totally not going to explain what the hell I am talking about.**

**Hey everyone,**

**This story has turned into one of my best, but still. I feel like I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing. Plus, vote on the poll.**

**My character development sucks doesn't it.**

**Question of the Chapter: What should the next story be titled?**

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	19. Following the Trail

**Hey everyone,**

**Thanks to all of the people who voted in my poll to see who wanted a sequel. Now, there is a new poll. I do lots of thinking and planning ahead so I would like to know what you want the next story to be called. It is the Sea of Monsters. However, it will not be like TTC: Perlia or the BotL: Perlia because there are some major changes in the story. Please go to my profile page to vote. Thanks once again.**

**Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

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**Justrockzyxxx, Slytherin Studios, TheKingOfAtlantis, Booklover0608, GothicPunk123, DeathmatchDrunkard, IcyRose66, LyingTruth123, Sobekton, The Typhoon Guardian, kingdom219, TheAvidReader (Guest) & Faceless (Guest).**

**Thanks for all of the reviews, favorites and follows (OVER 200 FOLLOWS!). It really means a lot for a little hobby of mine. I guess I never really expected this story to have this many favorites and followers because I've read the stories of some pretty talented writers like thelostrelic and MaydayParade8123 (there are definitely more, but these are just a couple), and mine in probably lame compared to theirs. So, thanks to all those who followed.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Περσεύς 19**

**Following the Trail**

I ducked and weaved as the sprinted through the streets of Manhattan towards a howling sound that I heard earlier.

Why was a howl the trail? Like I've said many times before, I'm slow, not stupid. I figured out that _she_was Thalia and when my dad said that when Hades gets to her, she would be killed or hurt. I don't know if I was supposed to hear that, but to me, it sounded like a rescue mission. I was the knight in shining armor to save a girl who could probably beat me up. If my guess was correct, she was heading for camp right now.

I didn't want to be abrupt and just go find them and say, 'I'm here to save you.' That would sound very suspicious so I would probably try to kill all of the monsters chasing her and help her without her knowing. That was my favorite route of action to take.

I took a left, and then a right, and then another right, and then a left before finding myself at some park I forgot the name of. Right in the middle of the playground were two hellhounds, sniffing the air like hungry hyenas.

I uncapped Riptide and moved to take them out, but then, four more hellhounds appeared out of the shadows (yeah it was night-time). I wasn't afraid anymore, my time at Gabe's place reminding me that almost nothing could scare me. If I was scared, it was because I would dwell on past experiences and force myself to be scared.

I waited for a good opportunity to attack. One of the hellhounds that had jumped out of the shadows snarled. The beast's ears pricked and he turned his head toward me. He sniffed the air and glared at me with glowing red eyes.

All of the other hellhounds had been previously looked northeast, toward Montauk...Long Island. _Camp must be that way_.

The hellhound glaring at me snarled again, but it sounded different, like a warning to the others rather than the earlier one that sounded like a hunting cry. Then the five other hellhounds turned to me and growled, their glowing red eyes glaring down on me.

I held Riptide out in front of me and activated Triametalla in my left hand. I grinned, eager for the opportunity to kill some more monsters. The first hellhound leaped as quick as a panther. I dodged as fast as a viper. The hellhounds circled around me slowly, each one waiting to attack. I held both my sword and my switchblade in hammer grip.

I used my eyeballs to look at anything within one-hundred-eighty degrees of my eyes. I listened carefully, years of being on the run finally paying off, the sounds of the hellhounds' footsteps and heavy breathing. I used my battle instincts and senses to try and decide on my next move.

I flicked a finger and one hellhound pounced. I immediately reacted, taking a step forward with my right and thrusting at ten o'clock from my previous position. The hellhound didn't stop, the sword piercing its cold heart. The beast crumbled into golden sand.

I flipped my switchblade into icepick grip and bent down into fighting stance. One of the hellhounds made a noise that sounded like a snort, like he'd faced a demigod fighting in icepick grip. I knew about the icepick grip very well.

It was mainly used by amateurs to increase their power and thrusting force, but skilled fighters could use this grip with quick footwork and body movements. Using reverse grips is much harder and you need to have quick reflexes and movements to be able to fight well with it. It was even more unfortunate for me because I had a switchblade and they were shorter than daggers usually. I didn't see many switchblades that had eighteen-inch long blades.

I still held my sword in hammer grip, though loosening it up so that I could spin the sword when I needed to. The three-foot long blade was pointed at the hellhound at my twelve o'clock.

The hellhounds were less aggressive now as they had seen me dispatch one of their friends with ease. I seemed to be able to read their body movements, when they would pounce, if they would pounce or even if they were relaxed.

I saw that none of the hellhounds were ready to pounce, wasting my time by circling around me. I took the first move and leaped to my left, twirling Riptide and slashing it horizontally at the hellhound that occupied that space. The hellhound that I hit barely had time to whimper in surprise before he dissolved into golden sand.

The hairs on my neck bristled and I spun around, the hilt of my sword leading my stroke. I nailed the hellhound on the side of the head and it fell to the ground. Another hellhound pounced just after I hit the third hellhound and I had to roll to avoid its claws. I quickly stabbed the third hellhound in the head before I nearly got my head chopped off by Hellhound #4.

_Three down, three to go_, I thought as I flipped my knife grip once again. Since Florida, I found out that it was better to flip the blade so that the sharp edge pointed toward your opponent. That way, when you slashed, you would definitely slice them.

I ducked as Hellhounds #4 and #5 both leaped at me from opposite sides. I rolled forward as the two hellhounds stupidly crashed into one another and fell to the ground. I faced Hellhound #6 as Hellhounds #4 and #5 slowly got back up to their feet.

I slid under the flying form of Hellhound #6 and turned right back around. Hellhound #6 growled and jumped at me again, this time not soaring over my head. The hellhound hit me and knocked me over. I felt pain as claws dug into the skin of one of my arms. I wasn't sure which one because I was also being crushed by hundreds of pounds of black fur every time I rolled underneath the beast. I kept slashing and stabbing at the hellhound with my knife, hoping to kill it. After what seemed like a hundred stabs or slashes, I managed to disintegrate the animal.

I quickly rolled to my feet as Hellhounds #4 and #5 lunged at me again. I blocked their attacks with Riptide, blood streaming down my knife arm like a slow, steady stream. Their claws met my bronze blade in midair, my sword cutting off the tips of their sharp claws. They were still sharp though, my sword not making a clean cut at them.

Hellhound #4 jumped at me while Hellhound #5 paused for a brief second. I took that opportunity to stab Hellhound #4 in midair causing him to turn to dust and blow away in the non-existent wind. I whirled around like a hurricane and hacked at Hellhound #5. He fell to the ground, melting into it.

I found my second breadcrumb. _Long Island._

_Gods darn it! I don't have any money. Walking out there is going to take forever!_

I capped Riptide and closed Triametalla. I stuffed them back in my jeans pockets. I tried searching them for anything that I could possibly use to help me get to Long Island without having to walk all of the way.

With all of my guesses, I assumed that tonight was the night that Thalia, Luke and Annabeth would arrive at camp. If all of my other guesses were correct, they were being followed by lots of monsters. When I say lots...I meant lots. Like four packs of hellhounds. For those who don't know how much a pack is, I mean like seven to fifteen hellhounds per pack. My math wasn't great, but eleven times four didn't seem like a small number to me.

Absentmindedly, I pulled my hood over my head and put my hands in my hoodie's pockets. I guess I was so used to doing that everywhere else that it kind of became like a routine any time I was in public. I was so used to hiding my face from all of those people, I felt like a son of Hades or something, hiding in my own shadow.

I was lucky that I _did_stick my hands in my pockets because I suddenly felt something. I rubbed my fingers together and my eyes widened. I pulled out the item from my pocket and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Taxi," I said. "Here I come."

* * *

"Lake Ronkonkoma, please," I said.

The taxi driver nodded and he drove off. I guess there were more kids riding taxis alone nowadays in New York because he didn't question me like taxi drivers used to when I was seven. Then again, it had been five years and that was a long time.

Okay, so the plan was to find the third clue somewhere in central Long Island (I just assumed that camp was in the central part of Long Island) and find my way to camp. I would follow signs of monsters, sounds of monsters and act like a detective. I was going to be the next Sherlock Holmes.

Time passed slowly during the ride, but my heart still thumped with anxiousness and nervousness.

I looked outside the window and realized it was raining. There was a storm going on and it was starting to pour down heavily. I also noticed that the GPS said that we were near Dix Hills. That was actually pretty close to my final destination.

"Should charge him more for makin' me go out in the dark like this," the cab driver muttered. I think he was trying to talk to himself, but the quietness of the car made his voiced thoughts clear and audible.

Lightning flashed in the distance, thunder rumbling in the distance. Then another flash of lightning...but this time, it was different. Unlike the other flashes of lightning which arced across the sky, this one slammed straight down toward land. There was also something different about that bolt. Unlike the other flashes which weren't controlled and cracked recklessly in the sky, the abnormal lightning seemed like it was directed at something.

A loud bellowing noise rose up from somewhere to the northeast. It was extremely loud, like I was close to it. I watched as another blast of lightning struck down at the earth. At first, I thought that the loud bellowing noise was actually far away and maybe the lightning had killed whatever was making the noise, but I was proved wrong when the loud bellowing noise rose up once again. This time, it came from the north making me realize that I was passing the area where the beast/animal/person/thing was bellowing from.

Adrenaline started kicking in and I nervously told the cab driver, "Exit here! Drop me off at...uh...Blydenburgh Park."

The cab driver muttered something inaudible and took the next exit to Blydenburgh Park.

With a start, I realized that I was scared of what was to come. For a second, I rethought about my thought about not being scared of anything, but then I remembered something else my mom said that kind of contradicted with some other things my mom taught me.

_If you're not scared of something, you are too proud and arrogant,_ she said. _Being scared doesn't mean you are weak. It means you have common sense. If you are scared of something, Percy, don't worry. It is a part of being human._

_But Hercules was never afraid_, I had said. _Was he?_

_He must have been, but it is just like what I said about crying. If you are not afraid, you are emotionless, like a robot. You aren't a robot, are you Percy?_

_No, mommy_, I had replied.

"Being scared means you are human," I repeated to myself.

My thoughts swirled with my mother's advice as different ones contradicted with each other. _Be strong...It's okay to be scared...Never fear...Crying means you've been strong for too long..._

Well...that last one didn't really contradict, but you get my point.

"Here we are," said the cab driver. "Blydenburgh Park." He held his hand out expectantly. "It costs-"

"It's all right," I interrupted. I pulled out the huge roll of cash I found in my pocket. "Keep the change."

The driver turned his head back and his eyes widened. For a second, he looked at the money like it was solid gold. Then he sputtered, "Well...uh...I can, you know...give you the...the, uh-"

"I said, keep the change."

Without another word, I stepped out of the car, leaving the money on the passenger's seat. I took one step onto the pavement and the cab zoomed away like a race car, the guy was probably ecstatic that he had gotten so much money.

_Mortals_, I thought as I shook my head.

A flash of lightning and thunder broke me out of my thoughts. I tried to located where the lightning was being directed from. _The third breadcrumb had been found._

I knew that the lightning couldn't have been Zeus because he was probably sitting on his throne accusing me of stealing his Master Bolt even after all evidence suggested that I _didn't_ steal that stupid bolt. Maybe the gods should've just gotten better security. I mean, why not put up cameras to see who stole it. _Gods almighty my ass._

Another strike of lightning, though this time was weaker as Thalia had probably summoned at least five in the past few minutes. If I tried to create a flood, I probably would've been exhausted after making two in an hour, not to mention five in a few minutes.

The loud bellowing sound rose up again, my senses kicking in. It was really close now, almost as loud as the claps of thunder in the sky. It was coming from my nine o'clock. It was pretty dark so I couldn't see too much in any direction, though I saw the entire sky from my left lit up with lights. I tried using memory to see which way I was facing at the moment.

I was most likely on the south side of the park and I was facing north so through deductive reasoning (or was it inductive) I figured that the noise was coming from the west. I looked to the west and suddenly felt like punching myself in the face. The lights were coming from New York City which was west and I had just figured out nine o'clock was west the hard way.

I heard something quiet coming from the west, but I couldn't exactly tell what it was. I went silent, the only noise I made was the abnormally loud breaths through my nose. I frowned as I kind of sounded like a bull. The breathing got heavier and louder and faster. That was when I got suspicious.

I could tell the pace of my breathing and I was not breathing that quickly. From my front, which was now west, I heard a lowing sound. I pulled out Riptide, but didn't uncap it. I looked around. There were still street lights on to the south (now my left), but anything to the north, east or west was completely hidden by shadows.

I stood quietly in the shadow of the pathway entrance of Blydenburgh park, waiting for whatever was coming for me.

A twig snapped at my two o'clock and I started backing up slowly, making my way toward the light. Despite being used to the dark, I, like all humans, liked light better. It didn't mean that I couldn't handle being in the dark. It just meant that I would choose light if both options were present.

Another twig snapped and I got ready to uncap my pen. I heard a faint sniffing before a deafening bellow came up from almost right in front of me. I immediately uncapped Riptide and pointed my sword at the beast in front of me.

It was darker in the shadows, but I could easily tell that it was a four-legged creature. It was large though, standing about six feet tall even on four legs. Even in the darkness, the white of its skin or fur stood out. The creature had pointed things on what I assumed was its head. They looked sorta like...horns.

I backed up further. If this creature was who I thought it was, I could start freaking out now.

I kept the thing at sword length from me. I moved toward the light so that I could get a better view of the creature. I continued backing up, but the creature stopped after a little while, its beady black eyes just staring straight at me like I was no threat to it at all.

I may have been freaked out, but I have a freaking sword. I am a threat.

I thought of some pretty lame insults to lure the thing into the light. "You know," I said. "I usually hate sliced beef, but honestly, I could eat you right now."

I winced at how lame that sounded.

The creature lowed and moved closer to me, those black eyes of his getting darker and looking more dangerous. There was one thing I was certain of though. The creature was a bull. It could've been any animal with horns, but my best guess was that it was a bull. The horns on its head were ominous-looking in the dark night, scaring the heebie-jeebies out of me.

"So...uh...which bull are you?" I asked.

As expected, I didn't get an answer in a language I could understand. I didn't speak cow. I spoke English, Greek and Latin...and fish, and horse. The bull snorted, and unexpectedly, he charged. His horns were pointed horizontally at me, looking like daggers flying at me at high speed.

"Whoa!" I yelled as I dove to my right to avoid the charge. If only I had a cape. Then I could've been a matador. _Olé!_

I held my sword out, stretching my body so that it faced the bull at a ninety degree angle. My left hand was near my left pocket, just in case I needed it. I had a feeling that if I tried using my knife it would get lost somehow. I wasn't exactly sure how it would get lost, but there was just that feeling I had. It was usually right.

I dove to my right again as the bull charged once again. I knew I couldn't keep this up forever. I would eventually tire out and the bull would defeat me, ramming its horns into my body and killing me. I took notice to every detail about the bull, the fact that it was a male and its white skin. The darkness grew in the sky and only the street lights were aiding my vision.

I noticed that the bull looked very familiar. There was a scar of a line on the neck area of the beast. I took in its entire appearance and realized with a start that it was the bull that Hercules had capture for one of his labors. Eventually it was set free and my half-brother, Theseus, killed it. This was the same bull that my father sent to Crete and made the queen of Crete, Pasiphae, fall in love with it. It was the father of the Minotaur, the Cretan Bull.

I rolled to my left and swung Riptide blindly, hoping to be able to quickly kill the bull. Time was ticking and the lightning had grown weak. It was almost to the point that made it seem like the daughter of Zeus and her friends had been overrun by monsters.

However, the reckless lightning flashed up in the sky, illuminating it for a split second before disappearing again. A strike of lightning flashed and turned the sky a bright blue for a second. I couldn't tell if that was my father or Zeus. I assumed that Zeus could still create storms and lightning, just not to the power or extent of what he could produce with his lightning bolt. But it also could've been my father.

My father was the stormbringer and this seemed almost strong enough to be a tropical depression.

I sliced upward and made a gash on the Cretan Bull's left shoulder. As he charged past me, the bull let out an enormous moo of pain. Instead of blood or ichor leaking out the wound, it was this dark liquid that looked like tar. It was dark in color, but unlike tar it flowed like blood. It was like shadow blood or something.

I bent down and met the now seething gaze of the bull. He huffed and pawed at the ground roughly, like he was about to charge at me. I extended my left leg straight behind me and hunched my body forward like I was about to start a race. My left arm was at a ninety degree angle from my back, pointing diagonally in the air. Riptide's point touched the ground, my right arm preparing to tense up.

And at the exact same time, the Cretan Bull and I charged at each other.

The deadly, sharp horns pointed straight at me as I sprinted forward, Riptide swinging in my right hand. I didn't have a spear or javelin or lance so I didn't hold my weapon straight and forward like they did in those old medieval battles. Not the wars, but the entertainment battle with lances. I forget what it was called.

As the bull and I closed the gap, confidence surged through my body. I knew exactly which move to do and as long as the bull continued to do what I wanted (which was to keep charging), I could easily pull off the move.

_Ten feet...five feet...NOW!_

As soon as I reached three feet from the bulls horns, the sharp horns close to stabbing my shoulders, I swung Riptide in an uppercut motion, slicing off the left horn of the beast. I quickly spun to my right, twirling Riptide up in the air. I grabbed the sword as soon as the tip faced the ground and I stabbed down with all my might.

Just as the left horn of the bull clattered to the pavement in the middle of the street, my sword entered the Cretan Bull's hide. It tore through skin, muscle and bone before poking the slightest hole in its heart, making the creature scream in pain before crumbling to dust like a breaking statue.

I looked back at my left arm and realized that my hoodie was repaired. About an hour and a half ago, I had a tear in it where my arm had been cut. I tapped my arm and winced. There was still a cut there. I wasn't sure which god did it, but what was the point of mending my hoodie if my arm was still bleeding.

I rolled up my sleeve and saw a drop of blood trickling down my arm. My hoodie was kind of wet from the blood, but most of the blood had dried up so that I didn't have a soaked left arm. I tried stretching my left arm and grimaced when I took it a little too far. It wasn't much pain. I had dealt with it before, but it didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

I capped Riptide and put it back into my pocket. I bent down and touched the ground where the bull had been killed. It was surprisingly easy to kill, compared to what I thought it would be like. But I think that the reason why the bull had been pretty easy to kill was that its hide was really tough and most would run in fear from a bull charging at them rather than dodge it and stab it.

I just happened to be crazy enough to do that. My hands were red from the effort of stabbing through its hide. It was tough, but it had brought it back far enough to generate the power to stab right through its skin.

I trailed my hand over a small pile of sand that had yet to be blown away. A trail led away from it and I followed it with my hand. I traced my index finger across the line of sand and found my right hand touching the horn that I had cut off.

"A spoil of war," I said as I held it up, examining the dagger-like horn. I touched the tip of the horn with my index finger. The sharp point poked at my skin and broke through the surface. I immediately yanked my finger away and stuck my finger in my mouth.

"Ow!" I said as I sucked on the blood trickling out of the tiny hole in my finger.

I examined the horn, staring at it like it was a dagger. I pulled out my switchblade and activated it. Usually, there would be no point in taking a spoil of war because it rarely gave something useful. The last spoil of war I got was a giant tusk that I could barely carry. Well...I couldn't really judge them because I had only gotten two spoils of war in my life, but whatever.

I held the horn in my right hand and played with it, judging the weight of it. It was lighter than it looked, like picking up one of those new computers that were getting much lighter than they were back when I was younger. Trust me. The new computers are much lighter than they look.

The horn wasn't good for anything but stabbing, however, it would make a good souvenir. _Here, here. Percy Jackson defeats the Cretan Bull at the young age of twelve._I was pretty proud of myself because I did manage to kill a creature that terrorized a region of ancient Greece for years.

Then again, most Greeks didn't fight in armies and stuff like that. Most probably learned individual fighting, like soloists rather than large armies. There were giant Greek armies for sure, like the part-Greek army of Alexander the Great and the Greek army that repelled the Persians in the time of Leonidas, but most of ancient Greece revolved around philosophy, art, architecture and philosophy and fighting was not really a big part of ancient Greek culture.

That is, of course, if you were an Athenian. It was in the city-state of Athens that the government was powerful, and philosophy and architecture were important in the development of the city-state (which was weird because Athena was the goddess of battle strategy as well).

It was similar in Corinth, Megara (not the Fury), and Argos. They all revolved around "the arts." Sparta was the only city-state that did not focus on arts, but rather bringing up great warriors.

Don't get me wrong, ancient Greeks were all probably good fighters, but didn't necessarily revolve their society around that. Young children probably didn't carry around swords all the time like I did.

An angry rumble of thunder rocked me out of my thoughts. I didn't see any flashes of lightning or anything coming from the direction of where it was before. I looked up in the air, the storm beginning to cease. The thunder shook again, but this time, it seemed like a frustrated rumble of thunder.

It echoed all around me, making it hard for me to tell where it was coming from. Then the loudest rumble of thunder so far rose up in the light wind, seemingly coming from the west...back where Manhattan was. It was almost as if Zeus was angry.

I stood there for a few seconds before realizing what was happening. I had been so engrossed in my thoughts that I temporarily forgot about getting to camp. I hoped Thalia was okay, but I wasn't too optimistic.

"This is not good at all," I said as I took off toward where I had seen Thalia's lightning before. "Not good."

* * *

I made twists and turns around, thinking I had gotten lost.

I was now in the countryside. I turned onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.

"Is this the right way?" I muttered to myself. I tried looking ahead as far as I could. The only think I could make out was this large shadow, something large, walking down the street casually like it was taking a nice walk in Central Park. I could almost imagine a giant walking down the street whistling a nice tune as he or she enjoyed nature.

Suddenly, the creature stopped and raised its head. It let out a bellow, only the slightest bit different than the Cretan Bull's. _But...there isn't any other bull, is there?_I could only wonder at what other bulls there were in the monster world. I racked my brain for any results, but even after years of fighting monsters, the only bulls I could think of were the Colchis Bulls and the Cretan Bull.

I took another close look at the monster, my breaths becoming more ragged and heavy. I had run a long way and even with the stamina that I had built up over the years, I could still tire.

The big giant was the only monster I could see in my view, the darkness, the rain and the lack of light obscuring my view of anything else around. I thought I could hear distant yells and shrieks, but my breathing was too loud so that I couldn't hear much else besides the rumbles of thunder and pattering of the rain.

I continued running forward, my stamina steadily draining.

That's when I saw the first of the hellhounds and clear shouting of humans and monsters alike. I noticed a fluttering figure flying high in the sky. I wasn't exactly sure what it was, but it didn't look good. The worst part was that tons of hellhounds were there. It was worse than I thought.

There looked to be over forty hellhounds in the crowd, figures starting to appear in my vision. I saw the hellhounds all chasing after a group of four human figures who were standing on top of a hill. One of the figures was yelling at the other three and pointing down into the forest-covered camp.

As I got closer, and the details appearing in my vision, I saw Thalia holding her shield and spear in a defensive position as Luke, Annabeth and a fourth figure ran down out of my sight. I also saw that there were three flying figures, their bat-like wings flapping in the air as they dive-bombed Thalia. They hissed at her, trying to grab at her. The Furies looked much like they did at the Hoover Dam when they attacked me, but this time they looked like they wanted to kill her.

They raked their claws at her and attacked her like they wanted to rip her face off.

Then I realized something. I could now see the large, lumbering figure that I had seen before and my jaw dropped. I was still running though. I felt like I was gliding on ice though because my legs felt numb.

I recognized the monster, all right. I had just killed his dad.

"Die, daughter of Zeus," I could hear one of the Furies hiss.

All of the hellhounds and the Furies were paying attention to the lone demigod on the hill, defending herself with just a spear and a shield. She looked helpless but ready to fight to death. She looked like she accepted her death and was going to sacrifice herself for her friends. Could I really let her do that?

The one monster who did notice me though, was the Minotaur. He stopped and turned to face me.

He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of _Muscle Man _magazine - bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except under wear - I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms - which would've looked funny, except that the top half of his body was so scary. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.

His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns - enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener.

He glared at me, hate clear in those black eyes of his. Maybe he knew that I killed his dad.

I looked at him, and he looked at me. I didn't pay attention to anything around me. All I did, was focus on the Minotaur and analyzed him. I watched as he roared and bent down, getting ready to charge at me. I looked down at the horn in my hand and an idea immediately popped into my mind. I grinned as I looked up, giving the Minotaur my patented grin.

Then we charged at each other, just like I had with the Minotaur's father.

* * *

**Spreading the action out. Add your thoughts via private message or review. Who's pumped for the next chapter which is going to by entirely made of battles? Not me, that's for sure. I really want to complete this story soon because if I keep up this pace of updating, I'll be done the PJO series of my stories in October 2013. Then I'll do the HOO series which will probably take until the final book of that series (which I am anticipating even though the House of Hades hasn't come out yet). THAT IS ONLY IF I DECIDE TO GO ALL THE WAY. More reviews, more favorites and more followers means I work faster.**

**Hey everyone,**

**This story has turned into one of my best, but I still feel like I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing. Plus, vote on the poll.**

**My character development sucks doesn't it.**

**Question of the Chapter: What is your favorite moment in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series? The Heroes of Olympus series?**

**Second "Question" of the Chapter: Rank the seven of the Prophecy of Seven from favorite to least favorite (1 being Percy...I mean, the best and 7 being the worst).**

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	20. The Sea and the Sky

**Hey everyone,**

**Thanks to all of the people who voted in my poll to see who wanted a sequel. Now, there is a new poll. I do lots of thinking and planning ahead so I would like to know what you want the next story to be called. It is the Sea of Monsters. However, it will not be like TTC: Perlia or the BotL: Perlia because there are some major changes in the story. Please go to my profile page to vote. Thanks once again.**

**Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thanks to all who reviewed in the previous chapter:**  
**ShotgunWilly****, slytheringirl4life, FaTaLClanWii, midnightwolf 97, Justrockzyxx, Wolfking57, percyjason, Booklover0608, NightmarishStar, Mithun (Guest), Percabeth112 (Guest), DeathmatchDrunkard & Hoorayforcheese.**

**This is a pretty short chapter, but I think it is long enough for a chapter that is meant to be mostly fighting. I didn't want to add too much thinking about other stuff and there is not much interaction between characters so it is why I don't have that many words. However, for this extremely fast update (because I didn't want to forget my ideas), I think it is decent. A few hours of writing with a couple minutes of revision (yeah, that's right all of those who love proper grammar; I don't revise much) is pretty good for me. I'm glad I got lots of free time today so...yeah. Enjoy.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Περσεύς 20**

**The Sea and the Sky**

I didn't notice the many heads that turned my way. I didn't hear the outcry of the Furies at the sight of me. I didn't notice Thalia, the daughter of Zeus, gape at me as I made my battle cry. I didn't notice that hellhounds stopped howling. I didn't realize that I was screaming.

What I _did _realize was that I was charging head on with the Minotaur, my only weapon being the Minotaur's father's own horn. Time seemed to slow down as the gap between the Minotaur and me closed up. It was as if the Titan Lord himself was slowing down time. Everything moved in slow motion.

My shoulders tensed as I got ready to execute my plan. Monsters and human alike (only one human), stared at me and watched like it was a dolphin show...and I was the dolphin. The Minotaur continued charging, his feet pounding on the pavement shaking the ground like an earthquake.

As I closed the distance, I felt a tingling sensation in my legs. Out of pure luck, I jumped at the correct time, executing my plan perfectly. In midair, I pushed off of the Minotaur's head like a springboard and landed right underneath onto his shoulders.

Then I noticed a random car speeding toward us. Time was still slowed down and I could only watch was the Minotaur barreled right through the car, making the gas tank explode around us. I was nearly thrown off, but managed to hold on by the Minotaur's horns.

The chest of the half-bull, half-man was on fire from the explosion, burning away at the hair on the Minotaur's body. I smelled smoke as well and realized that my face had been partially scorched by the heat and flames. I hoped that because I was the son of Poseidon I wouldn't burn too easily.

The broken remains of the car laid in front of the Minotaur and me, still burning from the massive wreckage.

_Why was there a car in the middle of nowhere? What purpose did it have here? Why did it come here in the first place? _These thoughts popped into my head as I stared at the burning wreckage. I examined the car more closely and saw that it was one of the cars of one of the farmhouses that I had passed by earlier.

However, I had no time to mourn as a bolt of lightning flashed in front of me and time returned to normal speed. Hellhounds howled, the Furies hissed and the Minotaur bellowed in rage as he tried to shake me off. The only reason I was holding on was because of the Minotaur's horns.

"Hi-ya!" I heard a voice yell, and lightning flashed from the sky, blasting a few hellhounds to dust.

I looked up at the hill and saw Thalia recovering from her shock to begin fighting again. She yelled again and some of the hellhounds turned to her. They seemed to be conflicted over which to hunt: the daughter of Zeus or the son of Poseidon.

"Hi-ya!" Thalia yelled again and electricity shot out from her spear in a spidery arc. The electricity zapped through a hellhound, making his body flicker with blue lights before it exploded into dust.

I tried not to cheer because I would've bit my tongue off if I tried to open my mouth. The Minotaur shook violently, trying to shake me off of his shoulders. He bucked and shook like a rodeo bull, and once again, I resisted the urge to go, _YEE-HAW!_

I took a whiff of air in and a horrible stench entered the sensory patches of my nose. The Minotaur smelled disgusting. He smelled like rotten meat. It was not nearly as bad as Gabe's smell, but it was a nose-wrinkling smell.

"Kill the girl, capture the thief," Alecto yelled to her comrades. She hissed as she cast me a glance with glowing red eyes, just like the hellhounds, but her eyes held more than just intimidation. As she looked into my eyes for that split second, I saw images of men and women who had gotten on Hades' bad side being tortured by the Furies. I saw images of painful cuts, and horrible executions. I saw people's limbs getting cut off one by one. I saw Alecto's fiery whip wrapped around the neck of a man as they flew into the air. Not only did he seem to have his neck burning, he was choking as well, clawing at his throat in desperate need of air.

Then Alecto turned away and I returned to the vision of being shook violently by a man-bull.

"Hi-ya!" Thalia yelled and tried to dispel Tisiphone who was nearing her. Tisiphone was knocked out of the air and she wailed, crumpling to the ground. Hellhounds had abandoned watching the Percy and Minotaur show and turned toward Thalia, chasing after her.

Panic started settling in as I continued riding the Minotaur's shoulders. I couldn't get to her without having myself thrown off of the Minotaur like a flying ragdoll. The only way was if I could hold on with one arm to stay on the Minotaur's shoulders. I tried it.

I swore as I slipped from my position and fell off of his shoulders. I had kept one arm hooked around one of the Minotaur's horns and I hung desperately. My hands were near the chest of the Minotaur which was no longer on fire, but badly scorched and burned. I attempted to end it and stab the Minotaur with the Cretan Bull's horn, but I couldn't hold on and the horn fell toward the ground.

Somehow, the Minotaur swung his hands and knocked the horn forward. I skidded along the ground until it reached the back line of hellhounds. _No!_

I scrambled for Riptide desperately, but the Minotaur finally found me and snatched me as I dangled from his head. I tried to pull the Minotaur's horn off, but the Minotaur had grabbed me so hard and so fast, that I couldn't even attempt at gripping it strongly.

I struggled in the hands of the Minotaur, trying to shove my way out. I looked back at the hill helplessly. I couldn't stop the Furies and the monsters from overwhelming Thalia. I kind of wished that I had reinforcements to help save us. It would help a whole dang lot.

That reminded me of Luke, Annabeth and the other guy. Where had they gone? Shouldn't they have gotten reinforcements by now? However, I couldn't tell how far down camp was below the hill. I couldn't tell how far they needed to go to be able to call for help. Maybe it was hidden deep into a valley, hidden from all mortals. Maybe it was far away from the road, hidden in nature. Maybe it was blended in with the landscape and the best place for the camp to be was away from concrete and closer to grass and trees.

I noticed the hellhounds were almost surrounding Thalia. She really looked like she was taking a final stand. She held her spear up and protected herself with her shield. I couldn't be sure, but I thought I saw a tear leak down her cheek. I was far away, though, so I couldn't be certain if she was crying.

Thalia was a tough individual, and I think this represented my mother's advice very well. _Crying doesn't mean you're weak. It means you've been strong for too long._

I yelled out aimlessly as the monsters closed in on her. How could I let her, even though she was pretty much a stranger, lose her life? How could I let someone die because I couldn't save them on time? I had promised that I wouldn't allow anyone to die because of me. I had the opportunity to save her but I didn't take advantage.

I locked eyes with the daughter of Zeus and although we were far away, sea-green met with electric-blue. Somehow, a message passed through. When our eyes connected, it was like there was a telepathic connection between us. It was like we could read other's minds though our eyes.

_The eye is the window to the soul_. I remembered that quotation but I forgot who it was by. There was also more to it, but I also forgot what the rest of the quote was.

Through her eyes, Thalia had said to me, _Brace yourself._

I had no idea what that meant or why I needed to brace myself. I felt the Minotaur begin squeezing me, slowly and painfully. I felt as his meaty hands pushed my ligaments together. I felt as he began crushing me. Then lightning struck.

Thunder rumbled in the sky as Thalia yelled and lightning struck the hand of the Minotaur. I was lucky that it didn't hit me. The lightning wasn't powerful enough to kill the beast, but it was enough to make it stagger. I was dropped to the ground and landed with a painful grunt. My head hit the ground as well and I groaned as my vision turned blurry.

I blinked twice and looked straight in front of me. The horn that I had dropped earlier was literally right in front of me. Two inches closer and I would have been kissing the ragged bone. I was aware of fighting going on behind me, the hellhounds pushing on at Thalia. The ones at the back were turning toward me, but I paid them no attention. I was also aware that the Minotaur was beginning to charge at me again.

Without thinking, I picked up the ragged bone and held it up like a pike. I rolled to the side, propping myself up on one knee and drove the horn underneath the Minotaur's furry rib cage.

The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind.

"Get the girl first," Alecto hissed and I turned.

Megaera and Tisiphone were flying at Thalia at seemingly top speeds. They were trying to kill her. I knew that much. Alecto looked hungrier...more bloodthirsty compared to when I had met them on top of the Hoover Dam. Alecto, all in all, looked pissed. She was probably waiting for Megaera or Tisiphone to bring Thalia to her so that Thalia would get a punishment worthy of the worst people on earth.

Thalia would get a punishment worse than those in the Fields of Punishment. She would be brought to the Underworld to be painfully executed in front of Hades. She would receive the worst afterlife that a mortal spirit could get...just because she was the daughter of Zeus.

I also knew why Hades would kill Thalia but not me. My father didn't treat him like an outcast, but more like a brother. Not a very caring brother, but still a brother. Just because Poseidon was my dad, it didn't mean he didn't have any faults. However, Zeus banned Hades from ever coming up on Olympus and basically imprisoned him in the Underworld, even though Hades could go up to the surface. It was Zeus who made that decision so Hades would undoubtedly hate Zeus. There couldn't be another possible explanation for this, could there? Was there another motive?

I stopped thinking about it because I was wasting precious time. I pulled out Riptide, uncapped it and ripped through a whole row of hellhounds like a hurricane. I did it out of necessity, but there was another fuel behind it. It was because I didn't want another person to die because I couldn't stop the death or sat there and didn't help. It was because I promised vengeance. Most important of all, Hades had no right to do this. Sure, Zeus had exiled him from Olympus, but to kill his daughter to get revenge wasn't right. Take it out on Zeus, not Thalia.

Blindly, I pulled out Triametalla, opened it and threw it like a throwing knife. I didn't stop to watch if it hit or not. I continued barreling through hellhounds like an unstoppable machine...except that I _was_stoppable. After about the tenth hellhound that I had killed, the beasts started fighting back at me and I received multiple cuts to my arm, one large cut above my eyebrow and a torn shirt.

I rolled backward as a hellhound scratched my chest. The claws created shallow cuts, but they stung. Human pain had weird logic. The smaller the cut, the more pain you received. The larger the cut, the less pain you received.

I wished that I had a body of water around me. _Or maybe for rain to heal me_, I thought as I ducked another hellhound's attack.

A conch shell blew in the distance. It sounded far away. The conch shell was probably the signal of an attack on camp. "About time," I muttered and ran past the hellhounds. I sprinted up the hill where Thalia was contending with Megaera and Tisiphone. Alecto was chasing after me.

I ducked as Alecto swooped over me. "Come here, _thief_," Alecto hissed.

"I didn't steal the bolt _or_the helm!" I exclaimed as I swung at the air where Alecto was a second before.

She cackled and dove at me. "I wouldn't expect you to be strong enough. You're weak. It is unlikely you would steal it."

I was miffed about the weak comment but I agreed. "Yes! I didn't steal it!"

Alecto cackled again and swiped her claws at me. "But I would very much enjoy your suffering. Hades is furious and has a terrible punishment for you to endure." She hissed. "Die, honey." Then Alecto flew straight at me.

Terror didn't fill my body. I faced Alecto as she dived at me, staring into her murderous eyes. She got closer and closer, the distance rapidly closing. I held my sword out and glared back at her. "I am Perseus Jackson, defeater of the Titan Coeus, the Cretan Bull and the Minotaur. _You _will die."

Alecto never changed her path as she dove toward me...and I swung the sword. The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.

I turned to Thalia and jumped into her fight with Tisiphone.

I snuck up from behind Tisiphone and grabbed her by the neck and pinned her to the ground. I stood on Tisiphone's wings and spoke to her, face to face. "Tell Hades that I'm coming. Tell him that I am not the thief. I'll prove it."

Then I stabbed her through the heart and she too exploded into dust.

"Nice throw," I heard Thalia say. She pointed to the pine tree to her right which had a switchblade lodged into it. I grinned and pulled it out, spinning it in my left hand. I looked back at the daughter of Zeus and took in her appearance. I'd seen her before, but now it was for real and in person.

She looked very similar to what I saw in the dreams, her hair shoulder-length raven-black hair, electric-blue eyes and freckles across her nose. Sweat dripped down from her fighting workout. She had two cuts on her lips and a long cut going down the left side of her face. Despite that, she still looked pretty. There was also a bruise on her right cheek and she looked very worn out.

She held a bronze spear in her right hand and wore Aegis on her left arm. The head of the legendary Medusa was imprinted in the center and despite being in a relaxed position, made me a little scared. Who wouldn't be scared of my father's ugly ex-girlfriend.

She raised an eyebrow, showing off the black eyeliner that she wore. It kind of made her look scary, but not really that much. I'd seen it all.

She wore punk clothes - a ripped-up army jacket, black leather pants and chain jewelry.

She was panting heavily, just like I was. I knew that we were both tired and exhausted, cut-up and bleeding, and ready to collapse any second. But we both liked to finish our battles. I could tell that just by looking at her eyes.

I looked back at the reinforcements that were coming up from the valley. They were about halfway here, the camp at least half a mile down into the valley. The first building visible was a farmhouse, the lights glowing yellow.

Rain still poured down heavily and it didn't help when it entered our cuts. I looked back down at the snarling and advancing army of hellhounds. I had killed about ten and Thalia had killed about four. Fourteen out of forty had been killed.

"It's not that many," I said, pointing down at the hellhounds. "Only like twenty-something. I can handle it. You have enough energy to make one last lightning strike?"

Thalia nodded. She looked up at the sky and pointed her spear at exactly ninety-degrees. "Hi-ya!" Thalia yelled and lightning came down from the sky, hitting her spear and blasting the front row of hellhounds. Five more were killed.

"Thalia!" I heard a distant voice yell. I paid it no attention, though, and went on the offense.

I didn't have a shield so I whirled through the hellhounds with Riptide and Triametalla. Thalia did the same with her spear except with less power. We slashed and hacked at the hellhounds like they were statues. It felt easy although our energy drained quickly and we gained many new cuts.

I got two more cuts on my forehead and a deep cut on my leg. Then I tried landing hard on that same leg and injured it. I no longer whirled through the hellhounds, but I still fought. I heard the nearing footsteps of shuffling reinforcements and the clip-clop of something that sounded like horses hooves.

Thalia and I fought and fought, working together like a team. Once, Thalia and I led two hellhounds into each other, making them collide. We stepped aside and stabbed our respective hellhound.

I dropped to the ground and stabbed upwards as a hellhound leaped above me. It disintegrated with a howl. After less than two minutes, there were only four hellhounds left. The rest had been killed and had been blown away into the wind.

My breaths grew ragged and my brain felt like it would fall out of my head. My exhaustion levels reached an all-time new high. I collapsed to the ground tiredly after killing two of the last four. It wasn't because I wanted to. It was because I couldn't move any longer. I tried reaching out to Thalia who was also extremely tired and struggling to kill her monster.

She looked horrible now, cuts running all over her and her shirt was torn from about two inches above her belly button, everything underneath exposed. Despite her Goth/punk look, she didn't have a pierced belly button or anything.

Thalia seemed ready to collapse, her movements getting more sluggish. Then the hellhound she was fighting overtook her and pinned her to the ground, ready to tear her heart out. I wanted to yell. I wanted to scream. I wanted to call for help. I wanted to be able to say something, but I was slipping out of consciousness and my voice didn't work.

Thalia didn't die though. Arrows sprouted from the hellhound's neck and I mentally breathed a sigh of relief. She was left unharmed.

It was short-lived though as the last hellhound that I forgot about pounced on top of me. I didn't scream and call for any help. I just watched as the hellhound scraped at my chest. Surprisingly, I didn't feel anything at all. I felt numb, as if I was back in Tartarus. I couldn't feel anything, but the feeling of blood. I felt like it was pouring out of my body like a gusher. It probably wasn't, but it felt like that.

The last thing I remembered before passing out was the face of a disbelieving but concerned old man and the fact that I had helped save Thalia. Even if I died, I would have saved a life.

I didn't fail.

* * *

**Like I said, this was a short chapter. I hope you all enjoy it and...happy reading. Don't forget to answer the Question of the Chapter and vote on the poll on my profile page if you haven't done already.**

**Hey everyone,**

**This story has turned into one of my best, but I still feel like I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing. Plus, vote on the poll.**

**My character development sucks doesn't it.**

**Question of the Chapter: What is your favorite Percy Jackson & the Olympians story on Fanfiction? (No crossovers; just pure PJO-based stories) Name the author and the title.**

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	21. I Meet The Trio

**Hey everyone,**

**Thanks to all of the people who voted in my poll to see who wanted a sequel. Now, there is a new poll. I do lots of thinking and planning ahead so I would like to know what you want the next story to be called. It is the Sea of Monsters. However, it will not be like TTC: Perlia or the BotL: Perlia because there are some major changes in the story. Please go to my profile page to vote. Thanks once again.**

**Thanks for the reviews and private messages. They really help me to understand what you guys want. I won't be able to grant the wishes for every single reader, so in advance, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur in the future. I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the ****following**** story.**

**Thanks to all who reviewed in the previous chapter:**  
**hero of all****, 1st Son of The Sea God, Justrockzyxx, Wolfking57, Booklover0608, Midnight Alwas, IcyRose66, DeathmatchDrunkard, Mithun (Guest), RainbowGlory97, Don't Stop Beliving, Mundster Madman, Guest, noone (Guest) & Annabeth luvs Percy.**

**Sorry for taking so long to update. I had writers block. I was also watching some TV shows to plan ahead for stuff. I'm not telling you what the TV show is.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Περσεύς 21**

**I Meet the Trio**

I expected to die. I expected that I might have been able to dream about Kronos and his rise from Tartarus. I expected that I could have at least had some kind of terrifying dream. I was so used to the cold, dark voice of Kronos that when I had my dream, I nearly pooped my pants. Well I would have if I was awake.

Remember what I told you about pink cotton candy clouds, rainbow ponies and unicorns in my dreams. Um, yeah. I kind of had a dream about that. It wasn't my fault that I watched Nickelodeon a lot when I was young...I just did. I just happened to watch SpongeBob, Fairly Odd Parents...and My Little Pony, but that's beside the point!

At least I watched the National Geographic channel...though only when they talked about the water.

Anyway, I had a dream about pink cotton candy clouds, rainbow ponies and unicorns, but not the way you would think. The pink cotton candy clouds weren't actually pink cotton candy clouds, but rather clouds that had turned pink in the sunset. They glowed as the sun lowered in the sky, reflecting the last rays of sunlight for the day.

The rainbow ponies weren't actually horses that ran in the sky, a trail of a rainbow glimmering behind the animal as it galloped across the sky. They were actually creatures that from the waist up have the body of a horse and from the waist down, have silvery fish bodies, with glistening scales and rainbow tail-fins.

I had seen them before, though I wasn't sure what they were called. They looked beautiful though, rising up from the waves on the shore. They seemed to bask in the sunlight and glisten in the growing moonlight.

Last but definitely not least, were the 'unicorns.' However, these weren't unicorns at all, my imagination adding the object to their forehead. It was actually the Cretan Bull's horn that my imagination had place on the forehead of a bunch of pegasi. It was a very weird combination with the added fact that the horses were calling out to me, _Lord! Lord! Lord! Lord!_

It got annoying, but my entire dream consisted of that. Soon, I realized that I was on the east coast (because I am imperceptibly slow) and in an unfamiliar place.

I was definitely on a beach of some sort, but the water in front of me seemed different. It was a part of the ocean, but it had a different feeling to it, like it was a bay or a sound. I peered down to my right in which the beach continued. I looked to my left and the beach continued. It was as if it were an endless beach.

I turned around and looked up the small hill leading from whatever was on top. I was shocked to see a climbing wall with clashing rocks, as if it were trying to kill people. With each clash, my head pounded. It was slow at first, but then the pounding sped up. It continued speeding up until I felt like I had a severe headache.

It was like a huge migraine and when the clashing of rocks stayed at a steady pace, the water from behind me erupted like a huge tsunami and crashed into the shore, sweeping everything up around me and dragging it back into the sea. Then I woke up.

My eyes snapped open and I sat upright. I ended up hitting my head with somebody and I fell back onto my temporary bed. I groaned as I slowly pushed myself up until my back was against the wall and I sat facing forward (rather than up).

I looked at the people in front of me and saw the old man that I had seen earlier before I passed out on the hill. When I took a closer look at him, I realized that he wasn't actually that old.

The man looked middle-aged, sort of like a high-school teacher, who had thinning brown hair, bushy eyebrows, intense brown eyes and a scruffy beard. He kind of looked like a civilized caveman, though with less hair. However, when I looked at his eyes, I knew he was much wiser than the first look. His brown eyes seemed to hold thousands of years of history, whether it be heroes, deaths and loss.

The man sat in a wheelchair, however, and seemed to be physically disabled.

He was holding an empty glass of water in one hand, and rubbing his forehead with the other. He started at me with curiosity, disbelief and concern. The man looked straight into my eyes, seemingly probing for any information. From past experiences, I knew people couldn't really tell my emotions for my eyes unless they knew me well or they just had the special ability to tell what I felt. This man had that ability.

"Apo tous theous. Eínai alitheia." The man stared at me like he'd found a new revelation. He looked at me and smiled sadly, as if he knew my future or something.

Something fell on my pants and I looked down. I examined it and saw that it was water. Regular plain old drinking water...or so I thought.

"It's saltwater," said the man. "Straight from Long Island Sound."

I looked back up at his face and realized that his face was wet, probably from the water. Why would he splash it on himself though? That would be a pretty stupid thing to do. I looked at him and opened my mouth to ask those questions, but he gave me a look that seemed to say, _Figure it out on your own_.

I frowned and furrowed my eyebrows. If he didn't throw the water in his face, the only other person who could've was me. However, I didn't throw it. I was sleeping. I couldn't have possibly thrown it into his face unless I had used my water powers which was...

My thoughts trailed off as I remembered the erupting wave behind me in my dream. Realization sprung into my head as I went to apologized. The man waved if off and just motioned for me to follow him as he pushed himself away.

Even after he exited the room, which was empty besides me, I still hesitated to go. I heard muffled voices outside and someone stepped into the room. It was just a guy who looked like a typical blonde surfer dude except for the fact that he had over a dozen...scratch that, over a few score of eyes.

He waved at me, eyes blinking on the palm of his hand. That creeped me out even more than some handicapped man telling me to follow him. I almost thought that this was another dream, but the events of the previous night (at least I hoped it was the previous night) flooded back into my brain.

_How could I forget that?_ I asked my dumb-self. I was at the camp and I was probably going to be introduced to the camp director. I wondered who it could possibly be. Maybe it was one of the famous heroes who had gotten resurrected and allowed to be the camp director. Maybe it was a legendary camper who I had never heard about. I could only wonder as I eventually decided to follow the hundred-eyed man (I just guessed that he had a hundred eyes).

I walked outside and onto a porch. It wrapped around the entire farmhouse where I now knew the infirmary was located.

When I looked out at the scenery of the camp, my jaw dropped and I ignored the man who was talking to me.

We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, I simply couldn't process everything I was seeing. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture: an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena; except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and some of their horses had wings.

"Excuse me," said the man, finally knocking me out of my thoughts. He looked out at the camp and back at me. I was still taking in the beautiful scenery of the camp. "Camp Half-Blood is quite beautiful, isn't it?"

I nodded numbly, my mouth not daring to utter a single word. There was this feeling that I had seen something similar to this, but quite different, however, I quickly put it to the back of my mind.

"Come, Percy," the man said. "We will meet the camp director now, Mr. D."

I was surprised at first that he knew my name, but as he rolled away, I knew he was more than meets the eye. His identity was still a mystery to me but I think that he was one of the leaders of camp. I looked at the wheelchair and studied it.

The man stopped as he turned the final corner. He looked back at me. "Come on, Percy. Mr. D is not all that bad, though you may have met him before."

I looked into the eyes of the man and didn't see anything wrong with him. He seemed trustworthy. Though intense, his eyes also seemed warm and welcoming. It was as if the man had layers and layers over top of his innermost thoughts.

He waved his hand at me again and I followed.

When I turned the corner, I immediately saw the card table at the end of the porch. Four people sat in the chairs: two girls, a boy and an all-too-familiar man. The boy who I thought was a satyr was leaning on the porch rail next to them.

The boy who was supposed to be a satyr was wearing blue jeans, Converse hi-tops and a bright orange T-shirt that said CAMP HALF-BLOOD.

I turned my eyes to the man, "Mr. D." I watched as he talked with the man in the wheelchair. The man in the wheelchair talked with "Mr. D" and pointed at me. As I walked toward the group huddled around the table, five pairs of eyes turned my way.

I saw "Mr. D," also known as Dionysus, god of wine, stare at me with big watery eyes. He glared at me as I made my way toward the table. I saw the eyes of the boy-satyr, which were watery and brown, the eyes of Thalia, which were suspicious yet thankful, the eyes of Luke, which were also suspicious and narrowed, and the eyes of Annabeth, which were calculating just like Athena's did.

I stumbled as I didn't watch where I was going and tripped over a piece of wood that stuck out from the porch deck. I heard a stifled laugh before whoever laughed covered his or her mouth.

When I looked up, six pairs of eyes stared at me. I stood there staring at them and they sat (or in the case of the boy who should've been a goat, standing) staring at me. It was silent for a few seconds so I decided to break the ice. I turned to Dionysus.

"So you're the camp director?" I asked. "I thought it might be a legendary camper or someone useful."

The three demigods and the satyr (I decided that he was actually a satyr) gaped at me for an unknown reason after I said that. Dionysus' eyes flared. He turned to look at me straight on, and I saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny, plump little man was only showing me the tiniest bit of his true nature. I saw visions of grape vines choking unbelievers to death, drunken warriors insane with battle lust, sailors screaming as their hands turned to flippers, their faces elongating into dolphin snouts. I knew that if I pushed him, Mr. D would show me worse things. He would plant a disease in my brain that would leave me wearing a straitjacket in a rubber room for the rest of my life.

"Would you dare to test me, child?" he said quietly.

"Uh, no."

The fire in his eyes died a little. He turned to the man in the wheelchair. "Chiron. Play instead of this boy here." Dionysus pointed to Luke. "He is terrible at this wonderful game."

"Hey!" Luke exclaimed. "That's not fair."

"Life isn't fair, boy," said the god. "Get used to it."

Luke scowled but obliged. The man in the wheelchair named Chiron sighed. "The least you could do is be polite."

Dionysus turned to Chiron. "Polite? _Polite?_ You expect me to be polite when father tortures me by sending me here with these annoying teenagers. As if they're not bad enough, four more children arrive. My life just got four times worse."

"Hold on," I interrupted. I pointed at Chiron. "You're Chiron? As in the trainer of the old heroes?"

I saw Annabeth roll her eyes as Chiron nodded. That fact also helped justify why he knew my name.

"Shouldn't you be...you know" - I pointed at his legs - "a centaur?"

Chiron looked down at his wheelchair and shook his head. "It is a disguise. Usually new campers would get freaked out if they saw a centaur trying to introduce them to a camp full of a 'mythical' world."

Mr. D, I mean, Dionysus snorted, "Mythical."

"Trust me," scoffed Luke, "we've seen creepier things than centaurs."

Chiron nodded. "Well, let's do a quick introduction. You four know each other." He pointed at Annabeth, Luke, Thalia and the satyr. "However, Percy here doesn't know each of you. Introduce yourselves." He gave them an expectant look, as if he were some sort of teacher.

"Luke," the blonde-haired boy said. He stuck his hand out. Even when I took it and shook it firmly, he gave me a suspicious look. I guess running on the streets for years makes you think that way so you wouldn't get stuck in a dangerous situation.

"Percy Jackson. I don't know who my father or mother is."

I spared a quick glance at Mr. D and Chiron. Their faces were impassive but they recognized why I wanted to keep my parentage a secret. I was born of the Big Three. If I just came in here and said I was the child of the Big Three, I'd cause a lot of commotion. I would have to make a dramatic entrance.

Luke glanced at me for a second, surprised, before saying, "I'm the son of Hermes, but I haven't gotten claimed. Apparently you get this symbol above your head. Annabeth got a symbol yesterday. She's-"

"-a daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy," she interrupted. "I can speak for myself Luke. I don't have a disability."

Luke put his hands up defensively. "Hey! It's not my fault I love helping you." He flashed her a grin and she seemed to freeze. She kept blinking and breathing, but she just stared at Luke. Again, I didn't know why. Was there something in his teeth?

"I'm Thalia...daughter of...well, you know," the raven-haired demigoddess said.

"Zeus, the King of the Gods and Lord of the Sky," I answered. Thalia nodded.

"For a formal introduction," said Annabeth, finally tearing her eyes away from Luke. "My name is Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena. I'm eleven years old and from Virginia."

"I see." I wasn't going to ask Luke or Thalia for any more information because I knew it. Thalia was from Los Angeles, though I didn't know her last name. Luke's last name was Castellan, but I didn't know where he came from...unless he really was from Bridgeport, Connecticut.

"And I'm Grover," said the boy in the CAMP HALF-BLOOD shirt. I nearly pooped my pants when I saw that he was the satyr in my dream earlier...in Tartarus. Annabeth, him and me...

"So..." Luke trailed off, not sure of where to go with this.

Chiron looked between us and rolled his wheelchair over to the porch. Mr. D sighed, "Must you really leave at this moment. I'm close to winning."

Chiron smiled knowingly. "Try your luck again, Mr. D."

Mr. D leaned over, picked up Chiron's cards and looked back at his cards. He sighed and threw his cards on the table. "Couldn't you let me win for once?"

"Afraid not," Chiron shrugged. "The orientation film is not necessary as you all know most of the monsters, but I will take you on a tour of the camp. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."

And then he rose from his wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move. His waist kept getting longer, rising above his belt until it was the front of an animal, muscle and sinew under coarse white fur. And the wheelchair wasn't a chair. It was some kind of container, an enormous box on wheels, and it must've been magic, because there's no way it could've held all of him. A leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof. Then another front leg, then hindquarters, and then the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with a couple of fake human legs attached.

I stared at the horse who had just sprung from the wheelchair: a huge white stallion. But where its neck should be was the upper body of the man, smoothly grafted to the horse's trunk.

"Let's go meet the other campers."

* * *

The five of us walked through the camp, Chiron leading the way, the four friends in the middle and me at the back. I didn't mind being alone because I was used to it, but the way Luke, Annabeth, Thalia...and a little bit of Grover, interacted with each other kind of reminded me of the time I had spent with Viola. It was like a happy little family.

I smiled sadly as Luke ruffled Annabeth's hair and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. All of them pointed at Thalia and started muttering about her being the daughter of Zeus. I looked at my hands and wondered what was going to happen when they found out who I was. As I watched people gossip about Thalia, I wondered if maybe they would treat me like an outcast.

I saw satyrs, most older than Grover, trotting along in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts without anything covering their shaggy hindquarters. It wasn't like I was going to look up there anyways.

I looked back at the farmhouse. It was a lot bigger than I'd realized—four stories tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort. I was checking out the brass eagle weather vane on top when something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched.

"Hey, Chiron," I asked. "What's up there?"

The other four stop talking and looked to where I pointed. Chiron's smile faded as soon as he realized where I was pointing to. "Just the attic."

I opened my mouth to ask another question, but I figured it would be a waste of time. I was probably hallucinating.

"Come along," Chiron said, his light-hearted tone a little forced now. "There is lots to see."

We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe.

Chiron told us the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."

He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.

I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire.

"Can you do that, Grover?" asked Thalia.

Grover looked slightly embarrassed, "Um..well, no."

"Oh," was Thalia's only response.

Grover still looked kind of flustered so I tried to cheer him up. "Don't worry, dude. Even though I barely know you, you can probably keep practicing and learn how to do that in no time."

The satyr blinked like he couldn't believe I had talked to him. "Oh! Well, thanks!"

"Grover," said Chiron. "Can you go and report back to Mr. D? Your work is complete. You have done an excellent job."

Grover gulped. "Thank you, Chiron." The timid goat-man trotted away toward the Big House, glancing back every so often.

"He's a late bloomer, even by satyr standards," said Chiron.

I snapped my attention to him. "Pardon? How old is he?"

"Twenty-eight."

"Really?" Luke asked incredulously.

"It does explain his beard," reasoned Annabeth.

All of us nodded, agreeing with that obvious statement. I looked around at the three. They were obviously uncomfortable at this new place after having been on the run for the past few years. I was too, but unlike them, I seemed to adjust easily.

"Come along. Let's see the woods," Chiron said.

As we walked along to the woods, the older girl dropped back from the group ahead of me and stepped in pace with me. I turned to her, taking in the smell of dirty clothing and sweat. It was nothing new. Thalia looked at me with uncertainty, as if it were hard for her to trust me and align with me. It probably came from the nature of our parents. I just had that feeling inside of me that I should fight with this girl.

"About however many nights ago was the attack on Half-Blood Hill," she started.

"So that's what it's called."

Thalia went on as if I had never interrupted. "I just wanted to say, uh, thanks for jumping in there. Even I have enough common sense to know that I didn't have a chance. Also, you're a really good fighter."

"Thanks," I responded. "You know, coming from a daughter of Zeus, who is extremely prideful and paranoid, your gratefulness is pretty modest."

The girl frowned. "I didn't choose to be born this way. I would have chosen differently if I had the chance."

"I know what you mean," I said darkly, remembering all of my life-threatening situations.

"Anyway," said Thalia. "Thanks...and maybe we can spar some time."

"Or talk?" I suggested.

Thalia eyed my carefully, seemingly analyzing me, but not the way that Annabeth did. Her gaze was less calculative and more like the king's...or in this situation, the queen's. "Sure. Why not."

She gave me a small smile as she walked back up to her friends. Just as she spoke her first word with them, she glanced back at me. Our eyes locked for a second, a flash seeming to...well, flash in my eyes. For a second, I thought I saw everything else in a different vision, but I must have still been hallucinating.

"Here are the woods," said Chiron, drawing my attention away from the ground.

It was only here that I realized how large the forest was.

It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.

Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."

"Stocked with what?" I asked.

"Monsters," was the only reply.

I gave Chiron a weird look. "You keep monsters in the camp forest? Isn't this place supposed to be safe?"

"Like I said," Chiron replied patiently, "if you care to try your luck, go armed. I assume you all have a sword and a shield."

Luke and Annabeth shared looks. "Um, Annabeth doesn't have one, sir," piped Luke. "She has a celestial bronze dagger...and that's it. But Thalia and I have weapons."

"I see," mused Chiron. "Aegis and a magical spear that can collapse into a Mace canister. As for you, son of Hermes, a magical sword that comes from the necklace of yours. You still have that shield you brought into camp, correct?"

"If my siblings didn't steal it."

"How about you, Percy Jackson? Do you have your own weapons?"

I nodded. I pulled out my pen.

"A pen," Luke asked. "Does it...is it...magic?"

I nodded and uncapped the weapon. It grew until it became a three-foot long sword of pure celestial bronze. The other two demigods who hadn't seen the weapon stared at it like it was some museum artifact. Actually, why would this be in a museum. It was too cool to be in a boring museum.

Thalia just looked at the sword as if making out details she hadn't seen before. Chiron nodded as he looked at the sword. "The sword is named _Anaklusmos_-"

"Or Riptide in English," I finished.

Chiron nodded. "Is that all?

"Actually..." I reached into my left pocket and brought out my switchblade. I activated it and the three-metalled blade sprung out.

"Is that silver?" asked Annabeth. I nodded.

"And celestial bronze and mortal steel?" Luke also asked. I nodded.

Thalia had seen it before and the corner of her lips curled up in a tight smile. I noticed Chiron's eyes widen for a split second before he covered. "My, my," he admired. "What is this? What did you name it?"

"It's my switchblade," I explained. "I got it from a dying daughter of A-" I cut myself off as I saw Annabeth listening intently to what I was saying. "Well, I got it from a dying demigod and named it Triametalla."

"Three metals," Thalia translated.

"I see," Chiron mused, stroking his bushy beard. I could tell there was something he wasn't telling me, but it was best if I didn't involve myself in the conversation. I had a feeling that the story wouldn't be pleasant.

"All four of you will be ready for Capture the Flag this Friday," nodded Chiron. "Let's continue the tour, shall we?"

We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables (which Chiron didn't seem to like very much), the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where Chiron said they held sword and spear fights.

We also got a look at the mess hall was an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea.

There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.

"What happens when it rains?" asked Luke.

Thalia rolled her eyes. I didn't see what was wrong with the question. It was completely legitimate.

"We still have to eat, don't we?"

We dropped the subject and headed toward the cabins.

There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without a doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.

Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory. _Hephaestus._

Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made of real grass. _Aunt Demeter._

Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. _Apollo._

They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops.

In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined fire pit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearted smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.

I saw her look up at me and she smiled. While the others admired the cabins, I waved to Hestia. I think Chiron saw this because after I turned back to the group, Chiron had an eyebrow raised at me, as if most campers couldn't see the goddess of the hearth.

The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve.

Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them. Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.

"Number one is Zeus, am I right?" stated Thalia.

Chiron nodded. "You will be staying in there. However, to make sure, you must be claimed in order to stay in there. I'm sure your father will claim you at dinner as it would make it dramatic. The same for you Luke and Annabeth."

"And number two is Hera," I said. "Her cabin is empty because she doesn't have any demigod children. It's the same with Artemis."

I scanned for a silvery cabin, but couldn't seem to find one. Chiron pointed toward a regular cabin numbered eight. "It lights up during the night."

Annabeth did a double take of me. I had a feeling that I'd be using my catchphrase often in the next few days. _I'm slow, not stupid._

We walked past the Athena cabin which was a blue and gold building with an owl carved over the doorway. It also had plain white curtains.

"I'm going to live in here," Annabeth enthusiastically pointed out as we passed the cabin. "It's so wonder. They have tons of books, these things called SMART boards, blueprints and a whole workshop. Also-"

"Yeah, Annabeth," interrupted Thalia. "We get it."

Annabeth frowned at her older companion. "That's mean, Thalia."

"Come on, kiddo," said Luke. "All of us think your smart talk is boring. Even Percy." He looked at me uncertainty, but I guess he was trying to quickly adapt to the new environment and the fact that we'd probably be hanging out a lot at camp.

Annabeth looked at me expectantly, her gray eyes flashing with warning.

"Uh..." I trailed off, not sure what to say. "You don't talk about boring stuff?"

"See!" Annabeth exclaimed quickly.

"You're threatening him. It doesn't count," said Luke.

"He said that I don't talk about boring stuff!"

"He was faking!"

"So!"

"It means you're boring."

"You're so mean!"

"Isn't that a brother's job?"

"Brother...right..." Annabeth looked away awkwardly.

"We're family."

"Doesn't mean you're my brother." She looked up at Luke, a hopeful look on her face. But all Luke did was scratch his head like a monkey.

"Am I your father?" Luke snickered. He did a terrible Darth Vader impersonation, "I am your father."

"Actually," put in Thalia, "you'd be his son because your name is Luke."

"I don't need logic."

"It doesn't matter," said Thalia. "You're my brother."

"Uh, yeah," said Luke. "Brother."

I smiled sadly at the trio who were pointlessly bantering with each other. Yet, they still made up in the end. It was just like a family relationship. I missed Viola. We would sometimes act like this, playfully making fun of each other. I wasn't sure (because when it came to girls, it was like a million piece puzzle) but I think she may have had a crush on me.

Chiron watched the trio with interest...or maybe that was boredom... "Anyway, let us continue on."

We continued on and passed by the Zeus cabin, Thalia deciding not to stay in there after taking a peek. I didn't walk inside because I didn't want to be fried like French fries, but I assumed that the place must've been lonely.

I continued on as Thalia, Annabeth, Luke and Chiron talked with each other in front of the Zeus cabin. I didn't know what they were talking about when I examined the next cabin so I didn't realize that the other three demigods were asking Chiron about me.

I looked on at my father's cabin, cabin three.

It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one, but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor. I peeked inside the open doorway and caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, that I almost didn't want to stay here. However, I guess I could make it look occupied. Besides, I was only sleeping here; it wasn't like I had to stay in here for the rest of my life.

"Percy," I heard Chiron call from behind me. I turned to see Chiron and the other three staring at me. Only Chiron wasn't staring at me like I had been crazy enough to go into another god's cabin. If only they knew my parentage.

"We should introduce you to the Hermes cabin," he said. "You'll be staying there until you get claimed."

I nodded and followed him.

Number five was bright red - a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists.

The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me. Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe twelve or thirteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. Her hair was long and stringy, and brown.

"Ares," I muttered.

"The counselor of the Ares cabin is Clarisse La Rue," said Chiron. He had introduced the counselors of each cabin as we passed by. Castor and Pollux of the Dionysus cabin (I had no idea the cranky, whiny god had children), the Lieutenant of Artemis (whoever it was) for the Artemis cabin, Silena Beauregard of the Aphrodite cabin, Katie Gardner of the Demeter cabin and Thalia of the Zeus cabin. Chiron explained how the previous counselors for the Athena a and Thalia of the Zeus cabin. The cabin counselors of the Athena and Hermes cabins had recently departed to the mortal world. It sounded like a nice story until Chiron said that they both died suffering fourth degree burns in a house fire. So for now, the cabins had temporary counselors who were highly inexperienced. The temporary counselors were Malcolm for the Athena cabin, and an unclaimed boy named Ethan Nakamura. Apparently, he'd been elected because he'd been at camp for the longest. In fact, the oldest son of Hermes in the cabin was my age and the son of Hermes who'd been here the longest was a Hermes camper who had been at camp for two months.

"Lee Fletcher is the counselor of the Apollo cabin," continued Chiron. "Charles Beckendorf for the Hephaestus cabin. Most campers call him Beckendorf expect for Silena Beauregard. And last but not least, the Hermes cabin."

Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on old.

The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it...?

A caduceus.

Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor. It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center.

Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully.

"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck. I will see you at dinner."

"So," said a voice from inside the cabin, "we have a son of Hermes and an unclaimed demigod."

Everybody groaned.

"Now, now," said the voice. "It's what we're here for. Hermes may not be my dad, but he has helped give me a place to stay."

Suddenly, a black-haired boy appeared out of the crowd of campers. He looked young, younger than Luke, but his eyes showed that he had lived more than his age told. His hair was wiry and his body build like a toothpick. He also had an eye patch over one of his eyes. When he saw me, his jaw dropped. "You're the Florida kid!" he exclaimed.

"Florida kid?" asked Luke.

"I have no idea what he's talking about," I replied. "Except for the fact that he and I met years ago in Florida."

"Oh...it makes more sense now."

The black-haired boy stuck his hand out. "I'm Ethan Nakamura, son of - well, I'm unclaimed."

"Luke, son of Hermes," said Luke and shook Ethan's hand.

"Percy Jackson, unclaimed." I shook Ethan's hand.

"Don't worry about it. You'll get claimed in no time," said Ethan. The campers laughed. Ethan waved a hand. "Ignore them. Even if you don't, we're all family."

The words were nice. The actions were nice. However, there was something unsettling about the boy's behavior. I couldn't tell exactly what was unsettling, but there was just that feeling.

* * *

Ethan was actually a very kind person, though. He gave Luke and me pretty nice spots on the floor when he could've given a dirtier spot.

It wasn't long before the conch shell blew for dinner. I had a little run-in with Clarisse La Rue and nearly got my head decapitated. Turns out it was a tradition to dunk new campers' heads into the toilet (though she only targeted me, not Luke, Thalia or Annabeth). When I politely refused, she tried grabbing me forcefully. I broke out of her grasp and beat her in a fist fight...only because she was too cocky. I'd probably never win again.

Dinner was fun. I hung out with Luke and we talked a bit more about our backgrounds. Luke would still be on guard, but he opened up a little more.

I hung out with Grover Underwood, the satyr that brought Thalia to camp, and we quickly became friends. Ethan and I also reminisced about our past. We also became quick friends. I also hung out with Thalia and Annabeth quite a bit.

The third time talking to them, I accidentally touched hands with Annabeth while her hand was on her leg. I realized what I did and after looking away from Annabeth awkwardly, I departed.

The fourth time talking to them, I did the exact same thing except with Thalia. _What is wrong with me?_ Things got slightly awkward again, but we still hung out.

Whenever I talked with Luke, girls seemed to be swaying toward him like he was a chick magnet. One flirtatious girl from the Aphrodite cabin even tried to get him to date her. To put her attempt in one word: unsuccessful.

It was my first few days of camp, and I was totally excited to continue on with the rest of my life. The thoughts of Kronos and the lightning bolt slowly faded to the back of my mind.

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy. Au revoir.**

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SharkAttack719**


	22. Camp Half-Blood

******Hey everyone,**

**I'M SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRY YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! I'm sorry for not updating in a while, though you probably don't miss my story much because it sucks. Even though it has only been a week and a half, I think that's a long break for me. I was just busy and couldn't really find the time to write this chapter. There isn't much progression here, but more of what is happening at camp.**

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SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Περσεύς 22**

**Camp Half-Blood**

My head shot up in the darkness of the Hermes cabin. It was Thursday and there was one day left until Capture the Flag. I was totally excited...if it weren't for the fact that I just had a nightmare.

I had forgotten about all of the real events occurring outside of camp of the gods and Kronos, that I hadn't realized that it had been a few days since I arrived here. I completely forgot to tell Chiron about it. Even after learning about the story of the camp's borders (which apparently kept monsters out), I had kept Kronos in the back of my mind.

Wait, you want to hear about the story of the camp's borders? Sure, I'll tell you, but be prepared. It's actually a pretty terrible story. It was also kind of a downer.

So, years ago, 1864 to be exact, during the time of the American Civil War, Greek demigods were involved in fighting in the war. The fact that Camp Half-Blood was located in New York meant that Greeks would most likely be influenced by the Union.

Therefore, the Greeks were Union. The mortals, Union and Confederate alike, fought in battles all over the United States. Abraham Lincoln, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Harriet Tubman and General Sherman were among the Greek demigods who fought for the Union.

Chiron's expression got grim when he spoke of the 'betrayals.' He said that Jefferson Davis was a demigod as well, though unlike before he didn't say 'Greek demigod.' Jefferson Davis slowly brought the idea of slavery into camp and influenced all kinds of demigods.

Slowly, the camp split into two and fought among each other. He was hesitant to describe the battle, but he told us of the battle in the camp's forest. He also mentioned something about a 'counterpart,' but I couldn't exactly remember the exact details. The Union demigods eventually drove the Confederate demigods away after a sacrifice from brave Union demigods.

Many made their last stand on Half-Blood Hill and they were turned into this one tree, all of the spirits of the heroes merged into one, though Chiron mentioned the borders were weakening as time went on, not discussing the root cause of why.

So...that's how the camp's borders were made. It was a pretty lame story. I kind of expected more.

I peeked around the cabin, making sure everyone else was asleep before I climbed out of my sleeping bag.

"This is not good," I whispered to myself. For all I knew, Kronos could've risen a lot in the few days that I'd been here.

I froze when Ethan Nakamura snorted in his sleep. I thought that he might have been waking up, but after waiting for a few seconds his breathing went back to normal...which was snoring. It was unusual as I had been sleeping alone for the past five years of my life, but I guess I was kind of getting used to it. Like Ethan had said a few times, the entire camp was basically family, though you could date people from other cabins.

I pushed the door open and winced as the rusted metal hinges creaked. I noticed a little movement in the back of the cabin, but I pretended not to notice it.

I walked through camp toward the Big House. I knew Chiron stayed in there, but I wasn't sure if he was sleeping or not. If he did, I did not want to know how he fell asleep with those horse legs of his.

I reached the Big House soon enough and braced myself. I stepped up to the main door and knocked. It was only a couple seconds later before someone opened the door. It wasn't the god or the centaur. It was the surfer dude with a hundred eyes.

"Argus?" I said. "I need to talk to Chiron."

Argus shook his head saying no.

"But-"

Argus held up a hand, an eyeball staring intently at me. It was pointedly telling me to leave and not disturb Chiron.

I was getting a little frustrated. "Argus! It's an emergency! Kro-" I stopped myself before I said the name. I didn't want to cause panic bluntly. I was pretty sure that someone had followed me from the Hermes cabin.

I glanced around and saw a figure hiding in the shadows over near the volleyball court. I pretended not to notice once again, trying to make the figure think I was oblivious to my surroundings.

"Well," I said, turning back to Argus. "You know my parent...my godly one, right?"

Argus slowly nodded.

"I also heard your patron is Hera, right?"

He nodded again, his eyes narrowing at why I was inquiring that.

"Your patron's dad," I explained. "My grandfather. He's rising."

Argus' eyes went berserk, like his entire body was spasming. He held up a finger and invited me inside. I walked inside and took a seat on the couch inside. It was actually quite warm in here.

I waited patiently for Chiron to come down. _How am I going to tell him? Should I be straight to the point or..._

"Percy," a voice called from behind me.

I turned around to see a slightly sleepy Chiron in pajamas. He also had curlers in his tail. I reluctantly pointed at his tail. "Um...you have curlers for your tail?"

Chiron looked slightly flustered, but composed himself quickly. He stared into my eyes like he was extracting the information from my head. "I assume you are here to bring bad news," he guessed.

I nodded but before I said a word, Chiron interrupted. "You know of the theft of the lightning bolt?"

It wasn't what I was here for, but I nodded. "Yes. Zeus got his Master Bolt stolen and he blames me. I was on Olympus not too long ago. But-"

"Why are you here then?"

I looked to the corner of the room. Argus was standing there, staring off into space...well actually, he was staring at the wall, the fireplace, us...and anything in a three hundred-sixty degree angle. "My grandfather is rising."

Chiron instantly paled. "So he is-"

"Maybe," I said. "But Uncle Hades also had his helm stolen. I'm not sure who stole which, but I don't think any of the Olympians stole Hades' helm. From what I've seen, they don't care for Uncle Hades much. I'm sure he blames me as well."

Chiron silently nodded, taking the information in. "I fear that maybe your grandfather stole both items." Chiron stared at the fire, probably deciding what to do.

"But if he did, what are we supposed to do?" I asked. I was honestly confused. I knew that Kronos probably stole the items, but what could I do. I didn't know where the items were.

"I would sent a quest out to the Underworld, to convince Hades that you are not the thief of his helm," said Chiron.

"But that won't work. If Zeus is stubborn and my father is stubborn, wouldn't Hades be stubborn as well? How are we supposed to convince him?" I said.

We stayed silent for a while. In the corner, Argus had gotten extremely serious looking. He probably knew of the Master Bolt theft, but the Helm of Darkness' theft was new to him. That itself is a pressing matter, not to mention the rise of Kronos.

Chiron eyed me warily, but his face lit up like he just got an idea. "However, because of your actions, Hades might take your mother's spirit out of Elysium and sentence her to the Fields of Punishment."

I looked at him incredulously. "Are you kidding me? But he didn't send her to the Fields of Punishment because I was the son of Poseidon. He wouldn't do that if he...but...would he?..." I stuttered to a halt.

Emotions started swirling up in my head. What if Hades really did send my mother to the Fields of Punishment? That wouldn't be fair because I didn't steal it. Then, one emotion started standing out in the hurricane of thoughts of my head: anger.

He wouldn't dare. I would let my mom be punished because of me.

Chiron noticed the change of expression in my face. "I would send a quest out and you would lead it."

"Let me go now," I interrupted. "I'll go alone. I don't anyone to help me. I can handle this."

"Hold on, Percy," said Chiron. "I cannot send you yet. You are unclaimed."

"But I know my godly parent!"

"Still," Chiron said patiently, "the last time I allowed an unclaimed member on a quest, the two veterans died and the unclaimed member returned, broken. Since then, I have banned quests. It is not safe to send out a powerful demigod such as yourself, all alone. You may have lots of experience in the mortal world, but this time, you have put the icing on the cake to insult your two uncles. Until you are claimed, you are not permitted to leave camp."

"But-"

"But nothing." Chiron's voice was not loud, but it was stern. "You must promise not to leave camp until you are claimed, be it in front of the entire camp or in front of one camper."

I opened my mouth to complain, but the look Chiron gave me shut me up. "Yes...yes, sir."

"Good. We will discuss this when you are claimed."

With that, Chiron got up and left the room.

* * *

I was glum for the rest of the day, the thoughts about my mother running through cactus patches flashing in my head.

I needed to do something. I couldn't just sit here and do nothing.

I hadn't gone back to sleep after talking with Chiron. I just sat on the porch of the Big House thinking about what to do. There were too many things to think about: my father's rage that I could feel hitting the shores of the beach, Zeus' rage of his missing bolt, Hades' rage of his missing helm, Kronos' rise, and the camp activities.

I just didn't know what to do.

The next day, Friday, I skipped out on breakfast, making the excuse that I wasn't hungry and went to the Pegasus stables. I quickly became one of the camp's best equestrians alongside Silena Beauregard from the Aphrodite cabin.

Sometimes I felt a little better when twenty pegasi were yelling at me asking for sugar cubes and apples.

Then I went to the canoe lake for a pit stop and waved at the naiads in the bottom. They always waved back, smiling and giggling.

After that, I went to the arena, which was my favorite part of camp. Somehow, I enjoyed fighting actual people with strategies rather than brainless monsters. I learned new battle strategies every day.

The camp had practice dummies to work on, but they were made of mortal materials (I wasn't sure what...maybe straw?) so the swords would pass right through the practice dummies. It was a good thing too because that day I would've probably slashed all of the dummies to pieces.

I had yet to show my knife to anybody but Luke, Annabeth, Thalia, Ethan and Chiron. Why Ethan? Because he caught me training with it.

I looked back down at the mess hall and saw kids starting to file out of the place. I saw a group of blonde-haired, gray-eyed kids head out toward the archery fields. Then I saw a group of large guys and girls head toward the arena where I was.

"Ares kids," I murmured. "That's just what I need."

I had yet to actually take part in real activities so far. I usually just roamed around camp aimlessly trying to take everything in.

The Hermes kids and Ares kids just arrived in the arena, ready for combat class. Clarisse led the Ares cabin and sneered when she saw me. "You're joining today and you're not going to run away like a coward."

I was thankful when I saw Luke trail in from the back of the Hermes group, talking to Ethan Nakamura.

Everybody started getting swords or spears, and shields. I stuck with my single sword, not caring about a shield or what not. Clarisse and Ethan were the heads of the class, both being the "battle experts," as Clarisse would say.

She was a good fighter, but I wouldn't say she was a battle expert. I doubt that she had been living on the streets for years.

"Before we start," Ethan spoke up, "I would like to say that I have given up my spot as head counselor of the Hermes cabin."

The Hermes cabin burst into whispering. My head turned to Luke and he glanced at me. He gave me a subtle nod.

"We now have an experienced child of Hermes at Camp Half-Blood and he is the oldest of all Hermes children here." Ethan waved to Luke, signaling him to come up to the front. Luke did as said. "Luke, son of Hermes, is our new head counselor."

The entire Hermes cabin grinned and congratulated Luke for getting the position of head counselor. Apparently, he was very popular. And so was Ethan. Lots of the Hermes kids called him nice and giving for allowing Luke to become the head counselor.

Some of the Ares kids grunted like they didn't care at all, but a few had traces of smiles on their faces. Clarisse looked like she didn't care. "All right, Luke. Now let's get fighting."

Everyone partnered up with someone and began sparring. I saw Clarisse challenge Luke, spear vs. sword. I was going to watch them fight when someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around to see Ethan Nakamura holding a sword in his right hand.

"Wanna spar?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Sure."

As we fought, we had a small conversation.

"How do you fight so well with that eye patch?" I said as I swiped a slash at his undefended chest.

"Lots of practice," he said as he parried my attack. "Lots and lots of practice."

I stepped in and grabbed his sword, yanking it out of his hands. At the same time, he grabbed Riptide out of my hands and we ended up switching swords. His sword was a little bit heavier than my sword so it felt unbalanced.

Ethan weighed Riptide as we circled around each other. "Light...I could get used to it..." Then he lunged at me.

I quickly ducked and ended up tripping Ethan. He got up quickly and held my sword pointed at me. For a second, an evil grin crossed his face and he lunged again. This time, instead of ducking, I blocked his attack and swiped at him.

It wasn't long before he disarmed me, my hand not used to the weight of Ethan's sword...or the camp's sword.

Ethan grinned as he poked the tip of Riptide at my undefended chest. "I win."

"Not fair," I replied. "I've been using Riptide for years. I'm extremely used to it."

"Life's not fair."

"Well...good point."

I turned and noticed that everyone else was watching us. Every single one of them. Clarisse was the first to break out of the funk. "Nakamura. You've got competition. The Luke kid is pretty good."

Ethan patted my shoulder. "Good job, but next time, try." He winked as he went over to Luke to challenge him.

I didn't pay attention to the fight between Luke and Ethan as I looked up in the sky. I heard a faint scream and I thought I heard, "Horses hate me!"

I noticed a pegasus that was going berserk in the sky. I grinned as I realized Thalia was the passenger. "Have fun," I muttered. "Horses probably _do_ hate you."

I watched as the pegasus did a _loop-de-loop_ in the air and bolted at the ground. Then it disappeared into the forest. I frowned as soon as the Hermes cabin cheered. I turned back to the fight and saw that Luke had won.

I smiled as I realized that this place was becoming my home as each day passed. I smiled as I saw Luke come over to me and give me a high five. I smiled as I gave Luke a high five. And I smiled as we went to our next activity.

* * *

"Let's have you _not_ do archery _ever_ again," said Luke as he sat in the infirmary, an arrow that I'd shot stuck in his left leg.

"Sorry."

He scoffed. "Oh, I'm sorry I shot an arrow through your leg while you were standing _behind_ me facing my back," he mimicked in a falsetto voice. He looked down at the arrow in his leg, the tip pointing upward toward the ceiling. "And how the Hades do you shoot an arrow like this?"

I laughed. "I honestly don't know."

Suddenly, two figures burst into the room. A flying mess of blonde hair shoved me out of the way and immediately looked over Luke. "Are you okay?" asked Annabeth.

"I'm fine," said Luke. "I'm good enough to yell at Percy here."

Annabeth turned around on me. "Why did you shoot Luke in the leg? Are you trying to get him hurt? What is wrong with you?" She was practically spitting in my face. Her eyes were wild and fierce, her expression seemingly murderous. Annabeth seemed very overprotective of Luke.

"I'm sorry that I shot your boyfriend in the leg," I calmly replied, not very fazed at her outburst. I couldn't believe I had ever been scared of Gabe. This girl was much scarier. "There's nothing wrong with sucking at archery."

Annabeth was blushing. "Luke...uh...he's not...he's...not my boyfriend."

"You must really suck at archery to be able to get an arrow stuck in Luke like that," Thalia pointed out.

"Yeah, I don't think that I'm the son of Apollo...besides, I don't even look like him," I replied. "Not even close."

In my mind, I was trying to communicate with my father somehow. When would he claim me? When would people know that I was the son of Poseidon and that I was not just a good fighter, but a powerful demigod as well?

"Percy?" Annabeth asked, knocking me out of my thoughts. "Tell us again. _How_ did you shoot Luke in the leg with that arrow?"

I chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of my neck. "Well, you see, I was aiming to shoot at the target but I mishandled the arrow and it flailed around like a flopping fish. Then I accidentally let go of it and it shot up into the air. After, I turned around and hit Luke, making him fall to the ground...and then the arrow landed in his calf...right there." I finished pointing at the arrow in Luke's leg.

"Yeah, thanks," Luke said sarcastically. "Look, Percy. I'll see you later. Why don't you head on to the arena to practice fighting with Thalia and Annabeth? We'll need a lot of skill to be able to beat the Ares cabin."

Annabeth snorted. "All we need is a plan. Those brutes are too stupid to realize that brains are more useful than brawn." Then her expression softened. "And are you sure you'll be okay here? You won't need any company or help?"

"Thanks for the offer, Annie" - to which Annabeth playfully scowled at - "but I'll be fine. Trust me. I've always been there for you before, haven't I?"

Annabeth gave him a smile. I looked over at Thalia who was watching the conversation without the slightest bit of interest. Annabeth hugged him and told me and Thalia, "I'll meet you guys at the arena in five. Free time starts in ten."

Then she briskly walked out of the room as if hiding something.

Thalia walked up to Luke and gave him a one armed hug. "See you it a bit, Luke." She gave him a tentative smile and looked over at me. "See you at the arena, Jackson."

I nodded and watched as she exited the infirmary. I heard a cough from in front of me, though it was below. I looked down and saw a camper coughing. The boy looked like he was about to wake up and I didn't feel like talking about my personal life to someone I didn't really know so I bid farewell to Luke.

"Sorry about the arrow...again," I said.

Luke sighed. "Don't sweat it." He stopped talking for a little bit and the only noise heard was the coughing of the waking camper...and the light breathing of the unconscious campers healing from injuries that they had taken from fighting or the climbing wall.

I turned back down to Luke. He had a conflicted face on, like he was deciding on something. Though I knew him well enough to know he was thinking, I couldn't help but notice that it looked like a grimace of pain.

"Are you sure you're gonna be all right?" I asked, just to make sure.

"Yeah...just...girl problems," he said.

I was no genius but I figured that it had something to do with Annabeth and Thalia.

"Okay. Rest and heal-up. You'll be ready to go for Capture the Flag tonight."

"Yeah," sighed Luke wistfully. "I hope so."

Just then, an Apollo camper burst through the door of the infirmary, panting like a dog. "Sorry that I'm late. I just had to help my little sis with archery." He looked down at Luke and grinned. "Oh, this happens all the time. Don't worry. You'll be ready to go for Capture the Flag." Then he turned to me. "Thanks for staying with Luke to make sure he wouldn't get bored because I'd hate to wake him up. Travis told me Luke can be really grumpy when woken up forcefully."

I smiled. "No problem, Lee. Anytime, anytime."

* * *

"You're getting better every day, Anna," praised Thalia. "A little more practice and you'll be as good as Percy over here."

Annabeth sized me up. "I bet I could beat him right now."

"Really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "You haven't seen me fight and you think you could beat me?"

"You're just like an Ares camper," she goaded. "You have the strength and skill, but you don't use your brain. You don't have a strategy. If you went into battle, the opponents would annihilate you."

"Oh come on," said Thalia, "he's not _that_ bad. I mean, he can't beat Luke, but he isn't that bad."

"I saved your life and this is how you repay me?"

Thalia thought about it for a second before nodding, "Yes."

_Great. And I have to get used to her for years? Ugh, talk about mental stress._

"Hey!" exclaimed Thalia. "I can hear you!"

I only grinned. "Fine. I'll take both of you on at the same time. I win, I get to hear about your back stories...including Luke's. I will also tell you about my back story."

"That's a lame prize to win," scoffed Thalia. "We win..."

Thalia looked at Annabeth for support. It was usually Annabeth who came up with ingenious plans and ideas. But she didn't seem like she was on her game today. "We win, we tell the entire camp you got beaten up by girls."

Normally, I would say that it didn't really matter, but at this camp, they really made things tough when it came to gender. Plus the fact that I was an unclaimed camper fighting against a daughter of Zeus, the most powerful god, and a daughter of Athena, the goddess of battle strategy. However, I had one bonus. I knew my parent and I knew my abilities...and I knew how to fight well. Okay, so I had three bonuses...whatever. Blame me for not being able to count.

"Really?... You're not playin' your 'A' game today, Chase," I said pulling out Riptide. I kept my left hand at my pocket, ready to pull out my switchblade when ready. I doubt that Thalia or Annabeth would find my blade terrifying, but it came in handy for close quarters battles.

Annabeth shook her head. "If we're going to battle, we'll need to put on armor. Don't be stupid. This isn't like living on the streets which I know you have been doing for a few years."

"_Erre es korakas_," I cursed. I knew I shouldn't have chosen that as my reward for winning. Annabeth, Thalia and Luke had told me little about their back stories already...though not much.

"Watch your language, Percy," said Thalia.

After we got our equipment on and protected ourselves with armor, all three of us got in battle stances. The two of them faced me with identical evil grins that only sisters could have.

"Hah!" Thalia yelled and thunder echoed across the alley. Then they charged at me.

My eyes widened and I reacted on pure instinct. I sprinted to the bleachers and immediately grabbed a shield. I wasn't an expert on using shields, but I knew that if I didn't use one for this battle, I would've been screwed.

Thalia was using her spear and Aegis, like usual. Annabeth was using a sword from camp and a shield from camp. I don't think she wanted to use her celestial bronze knife against anyone besides monsters. I had always wondered where she got that knife from. Did Luke and Thalia give it to her? Did her mortal dad give it to her?

I was too busy thinking that I almost got my head chopped off. "Whoa!"

I ducked as a sword swooped overhead. I rolled and got in a defensive stance. I felt really awkward because I'd never used defensive stances much before. I only used it against larger creatures and I hadn't faced a large creature in which I had to use my defensive stance since the Hyperborean giants in Winnipeg.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that a small crowd was forming a ring around the arena, watching as the two girls pummeled me. I heard whispers about how I, an unclaimed camper, was surely to lose against Thalia, a daughter of Zeus, and Annabeth, a daughter of Athena.

I heard a voice call from the east side of the circle, "Try, Percy. Actually try."

I looked over and saw Ethan Nakamura give me two thumbs up. Even way down at the Big House, I saw Luke beginning to hobble over to the arena to watch the fight.

I took a deep breath in and closed my eyes, concentrating only on the sounds around me. I was planning to calm myself down for a little bit and ease the tempo of the fight down but I had to dodge as the hilt of a sword and the butt of a spear flew at me from both directions.

I did a back flip and charged at the two girls. I felt like a bull, charging at two matadors (or would it be matadoras?) holding red capes. I looked at both as they watched me come at them. I saw the slight movement of Annabeth to try and dodge right and hit me on the head. I took advantage, quickly darting to where I anticipated her to go and spun her around, taking my knife out and holding it at her neck. I hit a nerve on her wrist and made her drop her sword.

I held my sword out at Thalia, daring her to try and make a move. I heard the hushed and surprised outbursts of the campers who had collected around in the circle. I looked over at Ethan who had an "_I knew it_" look on his face.

I sensed a little hand movement from Annabeth and I looked down. I finally noticed that she had her bronze knife sheathed on her waist. If she could slowly unsheathe it, she would be able to take me down with a few quick strikes. It was no wonder why Thalia wasn't coming anywhere near me.

As quick as a viper, I threw Riptide behind me and grabbed Annabeth's hand from getting any closer to her knife. Before anyone could react, a loud, annoying voice interrupted our fight.

"It's swim and beach time," Dionysus called. "Every one of you annoying campers is to go to Fireworks Beach and-" He finally appeared in vision and noticed our fight. He grinned. "Actually, you three who are fighting, continue to fight. One of you might be killed. Oh, the joy. Everyone else, go to the beach!"

Thalia, Annabeth and I froze perfectly still as everyone cleared out. Ok, maybe that was an exaggeration. Thalia, Annabeth and I paced around impatiently waiting for everybody to clear out. After everyone finally did, including Dionysus, who I was sure was going to watch one of us get "killed," we continued our fight.

"You give up yet?" I asked Thalia. "I'll spare Annabeth if you surrender."

"Never!" yelled Thalia and she charged.

I wasn't exactly sure what had happened next, but in a flash, I had both of the girls with knives to their throats and shields knocked off. I think I may have slammed them with their own shields because they looked a little dazed.

"I win," I whispered into their ears. For a split second, I thought I felt them both shiver, but it must've been a figment of my imagination.

I let them both go and they groaned. "Do we have to tell you the story?"

"Yes."

They both groaned again.

"Can we just tell you major parts of the story? We don't want to say anything."

I frowned. What had happened to them that was so bad that they didn't want to talk about it? Then I thought of a brilliant plan. "How about I tell you my story first, and then you can tell me what you want to? Does that sound reasonable?"

Thalia and Annabeth looked at each other. "Sure, but one question?" asked Thalia. I nodded, but Annabeth asked the question. "How did you beat us so easily? I mean, sure you lived on the streets for a while, but how come so easily? I had a backup plan for my backup plan, yet you caught them both. Are you really just some unclaimed demigod?"

Thalia rolled her eyes. "I was going to ask why you want to know our past."

"Well, I want to know what I asked," said Annabeth.

I rubbed the back of my neck. "To answer your questions, Annabeth, you'll see why when I get claimed. I _do_ know my parent, but I think it might be a little dangerous to tell. Plus I hope my dad makes it dramatic."

"Dramatic? I thought that Dionysus was the god of theatre?"

"Yeah, but your dad is the Drama King." Thunder rumbled in the sky. "I get it from him...I guess."

Thalia looked offended. "That's offensive."

"Whatever." Then I told them about my entire story. _Everything_. I told them about Gabe and Viola and my mom. I told them about Nico and Bianca. I told them about being near Tartarus and seeing Grover and Annabeth beside me even though that was over a year ago. And when I was done, their mouths were dropped all the way down to the ground.

"Y-you'd trust us with that information?" Thalia sputtered.

I shrugged. "Why not? We're friends, aren't we?"

Annabeth and Thalia slowly nodded. "I guess we are," they said in sync.

"Weird," said Thalia and I, in sync.

"Double weird," said Annabeth and I, in sync.

"Okay, this is just getting creepy," I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in the air..._like I just don't care. La, la-_

Then Annabeth told me a part of her story of when she ran away from home because he dad and step-mom acted like they didn't want her to be around. Then she told the story of meeting Thalia and Luke. It turned out she left home at nine and found Luke and Thalia a year later.

Thalia told me the story of how she met Luke and how she got stuck in the Lotus Hotel and Casino for five years with Luke. She said that if she hadn't had her age altered, she would've been seventeen.

All in all, both stories were pretty depressing.

"Well, what a depressing way to end an awesome fight," I said. The two girls nodded in agreement.

Then, the conch shell blew in the distance, signaling it was time to eat dinner.

"Well," I said, putting my arms around Thalia and Annabeth, "you guys ready for Capture the Flag? I hear it's Zeus, Apollo, Hermes and Athena against Ares, Dionysus, Hephaestus, Aphrodite and Demeter."

Thalia nodded. "I'm ready."

Annabeth gave us a grin. "Yup, I'm ready too. And I've got a plan all up in here." She tapped her head and mysteriously walked ahead of Thalia and I who had stopped.

"You think it's gonna be a good plan?" I asked.

"I have no idea, but I couldn't care less as long as I don't have to follow somebody around. I'm more of a leader type," Thalia responded.

"You don't say?" I responded sarcastically.

She gave me a small smile and punched my shoulder. "Come on. Let's get to dinner."

I smirked and bowed. In a terrible British accent I said, "After you, my duchess."

"I think you mean, _my queen_," she smirked and walked away leaving a very confused me to stand there pondering over what she said.

* * *

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	23. Capture the Flag

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* * *

**Περσεύς 23**

**Capture the Flag**

Dinner was really boring. Despite being at the Hermes table, I found that I actually longed for some time alone. Sure, I had gotten used to being with other people and it was fun at times, but I still loved the times when I was alone and could reflect on my thoughts.

I felt like a hurricane (metaphorically, not literally), the winds of the storm being my thoughts. They swirled everywhere, changing their tempo as the actual storm progressed in a direction.

It was as if the storm's path was the path of my life and my inner _and_ outer thoughts were the winds of the hurricane. However, there were always those genes of mine that were set in stone. Those genes were calm and steady, just like the eye of the hurricane.

Luke looked pretty wistful as well. He was talking and chatting, but mostly looked at the Zeus and Athena tables, trying to locate his sisters. He had a half-sad face as he looked on at Annabeth. I watched as Annabeth looked up and caught his eyes for a second.

Both instantly looked away, though Annabeth somehow looked at me. She gave me a look that seemed to blame that I had cheated during our fight.

"Excuse me," I said and got up from the table. Many heads turned my way, but I ignored them and continued walking out of the mess hall.

When I reached the posts that lined the outside of the mess hall, I heard a whiny voice call out from behind me, "Where are you going, Perry Johansson?"

I stopped and turned around to my annoying cousin. I gave him a cold, hard look. I knew that it was stupid to glare at a god, but I was just feeling down and depressed, and I wanted some time alone.

"Leave him be," I heard Chiron say. "Go on, Percy."

"Now wait just a moment-" Dionysus started, but was interrupted by a cool ocean breeze, though so subtle that probably no one noticed it was actually an ocean breeze. Dionysus scowled and looked up into the sky. "Fine. Just because of your father I'll let you leave, but next time you get dish cleaning duty."

I smirked, spun around and walked away, not noticing the shocked looks I was getting.

I decided that I would head down to the beach because I always felt most at home there. Sure, my real home for the past few years had been alleys and dumpsters, but the sea was my true home. In time, the camp could become my home, but it would take a lot to make me believe that. I was a social reject, nobody liking me whether it be because of my irresponsible behavior or my recklessness.

I sighed as I sat on the sand, playing with the water at my feet. I rose my hand and concentrated hard. I didn't shut my eyes, quite opposite actually. I stared at the water so intensely that my eyes felt like they were burning.

Then, water started rising out of Long Island Sound slowly to my hands' movement. I had been able to control water for a couple of years, but this was the first time I had been able to actually control a large amount of water without faltering.

I let the water go, willing some of it to form a shape in my hands. My gut stung now, pain starting to spread through my body. It was small at the moment so I ignored the pain. "Solidify," I muttered. "Solidify."

The shape in my hands began to solidify into a half-ice-half-water trident. By sight, the trident looked like a liquid. By touch, the trident was as solid as ice. "Son of Poseidon, at your service."

A voice called out from somewhere behind the hill that blocked the view of the beach. I immediately let go of the solidified trident made of water. I saw a head poke out from behind the hills and noticed curly brown hair. The person was trotting, his hooves stomping on the ground. Well, the person wasn't really a person, but a satyr.

"Hey, Grover," I waved.

"Percy," he panted. "Why did you leave dinner? I also heard that your father was looking out for you and seemed to threaten Mr. D into not giving you a punishment. Is your father really powerful? Why haven't you been claimed?"

I chuckled every time Grover took a breath in to breathe.

"Slow down, G-man," I said. "You want to breathe, right?"

Grover flushed with embarrassment. "Um, G-man?" he asked timidly. "Why G-man?"

Grover was always shy and seemed a little scared...of everything. He was afraid of Mr. D who was just an annoying god who could turn you into a dolphin, he was afraid of being underground and I learned that he was afraid of rabbits. Apparently, they "are big bullies who always steal celery from defenseless satyrs."

It was kind of funny. It only came up because I was talking about cute creatures that I had run into while I was on the run.

"Why can't I?" I asked.

Grover got a little fidgety. "I guess it's an okay nickname. G-man." He stood up a little straighter. "G-man. Yeah, I like the sound of that."

I faintly smiled. Our friendship had quickly progressed over the past few days. I wasn't exactly sure how we became friends, but I guess it started when he thanked me for saving Thalia. After I had woken up and been introduced to the camp, Grover had come to me personally to bow at my feet and thank me for saving his assignment.

Apparently, there was this council that judged his progress to earning some license which was Grover's life goal. I wasn't sure why a license was a major goal in a satyr's life, but I just went with the flow.

He said that they wouldn't give him the license because he had to rely on someone else to save his assignment. I personally thought it wasn't fair and I helped comfort the poor kid. I guess our friendship and sprouted from there.

"That's the spirit," I cheered. "Anyway, what are you doing here, besides asking me a whole bunch of questions?"

"Oh, I just wanted to let you know that dinner is ending soon and Capture the Flag is going to start soon. You, Luke, Thalia and Annabeth are going to get a complete rundown of how the game is played," he said. "The campers here already know how it's played so Chiron just does a quick summary."

"Do you know if the rumored teams are true? Is it going to be Athena, Apollo, Hermes and Zeus against Ares, Hephaestus, Dionysus, Demeter and Aphrodite?" I asked slowly getting up.

"If that were the case, Athena's team will win. With Thalia, Annabeth, Luke and yourself on that team, you guys would annihilate Ares' group."

"Are you sure? Aren't Ares' warriors really strong?"

Grover shook his head. "No. Well, they kind of are, but in terms of fighting... Listen to this logic. Thalia is the daughter of Zeus. You beat her _and_ Annabeth easily. Luke is one of the camp's best sword fighters. Annabeth is very smart. You guys would totally own them."

I thought about that logic as Grover and I walked toward the large forest where Capture the Flag would be played. "Well, if you put it that way..."

"Thalia is so good, though," he praised. "She defeated an entire pack of hellhounds - which was around eight - with an injured leg. That's impressive."

I didn't want to boast or put Thalia down, but that wasn't all that impressive. I mean, to a regular demigod sure. That was pretty darn impressive. But I defeated Hyperborean giants in the middle of a blizzard. Okay, maybe that was a slight exaggeration, but close enough.

"Yeah, totally," I said absentmindedly.

Grover suddenly stopped and that shook me out of my thoughts. I turned around to him and gave him a questioning look. "Why are you stopping, dude?"

He was staring at me with a slight frown on his face. I wasn't sure whether I had said something wrong, but he looked almost conflicted. Or maybe that was his face of when he was trying to figure something out. Either way, he looked like he'd just eaten a lemon. "Wait. You sounded almost of as that fact didn't impress you."

"Should it?" I said before I could stop myself.

Grover took a step closer to me and sniffed my shirt. His eyes went wide. "You didn't go swimming, did you?"

"Why?" I drew out slowly.

"Because you smell like the ocean, not the fishy smell, but the nice smell you get at beaches...are you?..." Grover trailed off. "No! It can't be true! But Zeus-but...but..."

Understanding dawned in my head. He'd figured out my parentage.

"I can't believe I never smelled it before! You said you even knew who your father was! But I could never believe-"

"Grover!" I grabbed on the satyr's shoulders. He brown eyes were wide with fear, disbelief and awe at the same time. "Yes! I am the son of Poseidon. Chiron knows. Mr. D knows. Argus knows. The gods know. However, you're the only other one to realize that."

"But this is huge! You can't keep it a secret! It's just not right. People will find out eventually," he ranted. His eyes went wide again and he backed away from me slightly seemingly in fear.

I cursed under my breath. I knew there was another reason why I didn't want people to learn of my parentage. I wanted to be claimed, but I didn't want to be called out a freak and have friends stop talking to me just because of my father. Sure, there was Thalia, but no one would dare disrespect Zeus' daughter. Poseidon on the other hand...people wouldn't care too much. He may have been one of the Big Three, but he wasn't exactly known as the "almighty King of the Gods."

"Grover," I said as patiently as I could. "I'm not an alien. I'm just the son of Poseidon. What's the big deal?"

"Big deal?! Are you crazy? But Zeus blamed you for the stolen lightning bolt!"

"If you knew about the stolen bolt, how come you didn't know that I was the son of Poseidon?"

"I only heard that the bolt was stolen by a son of Poseidon. I didn't hear anything about a Percy Jackson."

"Don't I look like my dad? Anyway, I've met the gods. I have to prove that I didn't steal the lightning bolt by the summer solstice," I explained.

"By the summer solstice?!" exclaimed Grover. "That's less than two weeks from now!"

"Stop shouting, Grover. Can you just forget this and bring me to the Capture the Flag area? I promise that I will reveal myself. You just have to wait. But in turn, I need you to promise me one thing."

"What?" he asked.

"Stay my friend," I answered. "Don't be scared of me just because I was rumored to have stolen the bolt. I'm still the same person. Besides, out of the people at camp, you're probably one of my closer friends."

Grover's whispery chin, which had started to tremble, stiffened up a little. His large brown eyes looked straight at my sea-green eyes. "Really? I've always been called an outcast because I-"

"Who cares what other people say? To me, you'll always be the best satyr ever," I smiled. "Whatever license you are aiming to get, you'll get it. And if there is a task to go along with it, you'll succeed. I believe in you buddy."

I had always trusted too easily, my decisions coming from the good inside of people, rather than the bad. However, growing up on the streets, I could also tell good from bad unless they could hide it really, really well. Everyone had some good in them. It was just a part of human nature. I couldn't say the same for immortal beings but...

Either way, I couldn't blame myself. Grover was a good person. Surely he wouldn't abandon me because of my father.

Grover looked shaken, like he'd seen a ghost, but he nodded. "I promise. It's just shocking."

"All right," I said. "You ready to help teach me how Capture the Flag works?"

He sighed heavily. "I guess so."

* * *

Ethan was the one who explained all of the rules to us along with Grover.

"Capture the Flag is a long-time tradition here in Camp Half-Blood and is held every Friday, as you may have noticed," Ethan explained as we stood at the edge of the forest. "Us campers usually play amongst ourselves, but the first year I was here, which was a long time ago, the Hunters of Artemis visited and there was a 'friendly' game of Capture the Flag between the campers and the Hunters."

I saw sour looks on Annabeth's, Luke's and Thalia's faces at the mention of the Hunters of Artemis.

"The Hunters won the last 56 games in a row," said Grover.

"Which completely sucks," grumbled Ethan. "I heard that every time the campers faced the Hunters, we'd get humiliated badly. I didn't play in that first game because I had a broken leg from the climbing wall, but needless to say, over a dozen joined me in the infirmary...and that was before the game even ended. Artemis trains her Hunters very well."

"Yeah, 'cause the Hunters are the best at everything," said Luke sarcastically.

Ethan gave him a look. "You've met them before?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Thalia said sourly.

Annabeth nodded along with them. She had her nose scrunched up like she'd smelled rotten eggs.

I shrugged. "They can't be that bad."

"You're kind of right," said Luke. "They're not as bad as...other things." He gave this mysterious tone that made me wonder what he was talking about. Maybe he was talking about the creepy lady from his young childhood. I think it was his mom, but I had that dream so long ago the details were fuzzy.

"Trust me," I said. "You haven't seen or heard bad until you hear my childhood." I looked down at the ground, wishing I could kill Gabe from the very spot I was at. I just wish I hadn't been scared of him. I could've easily disposed of him. I told him that he deserved a painful death or at least a horrible death, but I wasn't cruel enough to slowly cut him up. I kind of wished I had Medusa's head because that would be very suitable

"Wanna bet?" Luke scoffed.

"Actually..." Annabeth started. "Percy's past is pretty bad."

Luke turned to her with a hurt expression. "You know what happened to me-"

"But-"

"Can we _not_ argue about whose childhood was worse? Capture the Flag starts soon and I don't want you unprepared. Besides, Luke, you're still recovering from your injury. You won't be 100% for the game," interrupted Ethan.

Annabeth and Luke immediately shut up.

"Anyway, when playing Capture the Flag, we'll go into the forest, where all the monsters are. It's a fairly dangerous game, but it is beneficial because it provides you with real life training needed in order to survive in the world. So, if you want to leave camp after the summer, you'll be prepared for the dangers of being in the mortal world. Unless, of course, you do end up dying somehow," he added ominously. I swear I saw a smile flicker across his face when he looked at me, but it disappeared as soon as it appeared.

"Or you could just learn how to survive by living in the mortal world," said Luke. Annabeth, Thalia and I nodded.

"That's different," Ethan said. "You four are powerful demigods, though we don't know Percy's father yet."

Yes, I told Ethan my godly parent was male. I also told Luke, Annabeth, Thalia and Grover. Have I mentioned that before?

"Anyway, all magic items are allowed in Capture the Flag so Luke can use that necklace-sword, Thalia can use her spear and that creepy shield and Percy can use his pen-sword." Ethan turned to Annabeth. "You don't have a magical item yet, do you?"

Annabeth shook her head. "No. Not yet, but I do hope my mom will give me something. Just to show she cares like Hermes does Luke, Zeus does Thalia and Percy's dad does Percy."

"Do you know the exact objectives of the game?" Ethan asked.

"I know that we have to get a flag," Thalia responded.

"That's basically it," said Ethan. "There'll be a flag on each side of the forest - Chiron'll assign which sides the teams will be on and what color they will wear: red or blue. To win you need to bring your opponent's flag across the border which is the mini river in the center of the forest. The flag must be visible at all times. As you heard in dinner, it's Ares vs. Athena tonight. Ares holds the laurels."

"Do you know the complete teams? I heard rumors that-"

Ethan nodded, interrupting Luke. "Yeah. The rumors are true. It's us and Apollo against the rest of camp. Of course, I mean Hermes, Athena, Apollo and Thalia against Dionysus, Ares, Hephaestus, Aphrodite and Demeter."

"We're totally going to win this game," cheered Thalia. She and Annabeth high-fived. Then she high-fived Luke. After, she turned to me. "Come, peasant Percy-"

"Peasant?" Grover cried.

The five of us had forgotten that Grover was there so he startled us. I immediately sent him a sharp look. Ethan was regarding me with his one good eye. I couldn't sense anything with him. It was as if he had no emotions. Luke and Thalia were both frowning, not getting why Grover would get so worked up over a name call. Annabeth, however, was looking at me inquisitively, possibly figuring out my parentage.

"What's wrong, Grover?" asked Luke.

"Sorry," Grover apologized. "It's just that Percy doesn't seem like a peasant. He...he's just not like that."

Thalia and Luke regarded Grover with suspicious eyes. I guess I should just tell them. They would eventually figure it out anyway.

"Guys...and girls, I have to tell you something," I started. All eyes turned to me. "It's about my parentage. I always say I know, so I'm going to tell you guys who my father is. Nobody else knows, but Chiron, Mr. D, Argus and the gods. My father is-"

I was cut off by a loud conch shell. It blew loud and clear in the air, signaling the beginning of preparing for Capture the Flag.

Ethan looked a little miffed. "All right. There's the signal that Capture the Flag is going to start soon. Report to your cabin counselor, or in Luke's case, go to your cabin group and make sure you've got everyone there. Thalia, you can just stay here."

With that, he took off for the Hermes group.

"So, who's your father?" asked Luke. Despite Ethan's instructions, Luke and Annabeth both stayed here with me, Thalia and Grover.

I looked at each of them in the eye. "I-I'll tell you guys later."

* * *

We all stood at our tables in the mess hall pavilion.

Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree.

From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.

I looked over to Ethan. "So, those are the flags?" I yelled over the noise.

"Yup," he yelled back.

"How do they change when a team wins? Do we paint them?"

"Nope. Magic. Wait, and you'll see."

Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.

"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, ox hide shields coated in metal.

"Get a helmet, Percy. And a shield," Ethan advised. "Trust me, you'll need it. Oh, and definitely get armor."

"Actually, I don't need a shield. They say it gives you more versatility, which it does, but if you know how to fight with just a sword, then you know how to do some _real_ damage," I said. "And I always have a backup."

"Huh, you might be a descendant of Athena," he yelled.

"Not a chance," I replied. "Annabeth says my IQ is down in the toilets or something like that..whatever that means."

"I know what she means, but I'm not telling you what."

I laughed and put on my armor. Ethan helped me straighten up the armor as I had always gone armorless during my time on the streets. I didn't know how to put on armor.

"Blue team, forward," yelled Annabeth as soon as everyone had put on their armor and grabbed shields.

I heard a lot of people cry out at the Athena cabin. They weren't complaints, but rather questions. Malcolm, Annabeth's half-brother and head counselor of the Athena cabin, said, "Annabeth is a really good strategist."

There were some mumbles of agreement. I wasn't sure how they knew that she was a good strategists...Hades, I didn't even know she was the best strategist here. I assumed she was just good.

Our team marched toward the south forest and the red team, Ares cabin and co., shouted insults and taunts at us. Well, it was only the Ares cabin, but still.

When we reached the spot where we hid our flag, Annabeth told the plan to everybody.

"Okay, so the Apollo cabin's best archers will play defense and use blunt tipped arrows to rain down on the Ares cabin. Three quarters of the Hermes cabin will hide behind trees and in the woods - just make sure you don't get killed by monsters - and ambush any attackers that try to flank. However, knowing the Ares cabin, they'll come in charging without reinforcements," Annabeth explained. "Good so far? Okay, Luke will play border patrol with Ethan. Then, the one quarter left of the Hermes cabin will be a decoy going out to the left. The rest of the Apollo campers will be another decoy spread out in a thin line covering the middle and right. Disperse easily when attacked. Thalia and Percy will go for the flag. When they get to the flag, Thalia will illuminate the sky with lightning and the defense push the Ares campers away to the border. Keep fighting hard. Luke and Ethan will come and help support Thalia or Percy...whoever has the flag. When the lightning strikers, Apollo and Hermes campers on offense will dissolve into the forest and retreat to the middle where Thalia and Percy will be running back through. Athena campers will each lead a group of campers. One will go with the defending archers creating a strategy in taking down the brute force of the Ares campers. Four will lead the defending Hermes kids. Two will lead the offensive archers. Two will lead the Hermes decoy. Malcolm be the offensive backup and I will just scout around to make sure everything is in order."

"That sounds good to me," Ethan piped up.

"And I have a backup plan. If Thalia or yourself gets into trouble, Percy, the one that can escape will escape, quickly get the flag and sprint back. The one in trouble will have to find a way to fight on his or her own. Defenders, if you are in trouble, get the Athena supervisor to blow the whistles that they have and reinforcements better come. Also, if the decoys don't work, Thalia and Percy...just blow everyone away."

I looked toward Thalia. She had a determined look on her face. I wondered how I would ever be able to get the flag without her wanting to steal it from me and getting credit for capturing the flag. I just assumed that was the way she did things because she was the daughter of Zeus.

Far away, the conch horn blew and the game started. Everyone rushed to their positions, Thalia and I immediately starting to stealthily sneak around the forest.

We crossed the creek border and immediately ran into some enemy campers. Actually, it was just a couple of Aphrodite girls looking at their reflections in mirrors. When we stumbled upon them, they looked up at me and smiled.

"Hey, Percy," one said. Neither one of these two were Silena. I couldn't tell whether that was good or bad. "How are you doing? You're twelve, right? Do you have a girlfriend?"

I stood there stunned for a couple seconds. "Well, that escalated quickly."

"I was just wondering-"

"If I hug you, will you stop bothering me and not tell anybody we're coming?" I asked.

"Deal!"

Then I followed through with the deal. After I hugged the two of them, they both fainted. I looked around quickly, making sure no one could see us. Then I rolled the two bodies into the bushes. I made a quiet warning into the night. "Don't attack them, monsters, or you'll never live for another twenty years."

Then, Thalia and I continued on.

"What was the deal with them?" asked Thalia sourly. "Why did they just want to be your girlfriend?"

"I don't know," I replied. "First of all, I'm twelve and immature. Secondly, I'm average looking. I'm sure they'd rather date Luke."

"Really?" Thalia said rhetorically. "Are you kidding me?"

"_What?!_"

"You're good looking. Don't think of that as flirting. It's just a fact."

"I wasn't going to say you were flirting. Anyway, what was that about?"

"What?"

"Um, about 'you mean, _my queen_' and that funny stuff," I said.

"My dad may not be the best dad in the world, in fact, he's probably one of the worst, but I'm still his daughter and if he ever died I'd be queen. That's why I also called you peasant. It doesn't matter who your father is, you'll be a peasant in my eyes. Unless, of course, you were the son of Hades or Poseidon or something."

"Yeah..." I laughed nervously. "But why am I a peasant?"

"Well, for one, because of what you've been through and how you've had to work to get where you are. I mean, it takes a lot of practice to become as good as you are right now," she praised. "We may not be the closest of friends, but you are skilled, and I admire that."

"All right," I nodded and we continued to creep through the forest.

It was quiet in the forest, monsters not very noticeable in the looming darkness. It wasn't that dark, but shadows were very apparent. I was weird because a son of Poseidon and daughter of Zeus should have attracted many monsters.

I broke the silence. "Do you see anyone? Or the flag?"

"I don't know. Annabeth says that they probably hid the flag on Zeus' Fist," said Thalia, her eyes alert.

She really looked like that she was ready for battle. Her weapons were at the ready and she was crouched. I, on the other hand, felt like I was taking a casual stroll in a park. I swung my sword carelessly, stepping on branches and twigs.

I heard something in the distance, the sounds of talking, though I was too far away to heard what they were saying. Thalia suddenly stopped and held her army out across my chest. "Shh. I hear something."

"Yeah. I know. People are talking."

Thalia regarded me with uncertain eyes. "Can you really tell that people are talking?" I nodded. "Can you tell what they are talking about?"

I shook my head. "No, I can't hear what they are talking about. If we get closer, I might be able to listen in. We might be close to the flag."

In the far distance, behind us, I heard shouts and orders of shooting arrows. The distraction seemed to be working.

"Okay," I said. "The distraction seems to be working. I heard shouting from behind us."

"Are you sure that the shouting is from the distraction?" Thalia asked.

Just as she finished saying that, a stray arrow whizzed by our faces. I turned to her. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

We continued forward and moved through the bushes.

The talking from ahead got louder and louder as we continued closer. I turned around a tree and my jaw dropped for a second. I immediately turned around and tackled Thalia to the ground behind us.

"What the Hades are you doing?" she asked in a loud whisper as I collapsed on top of her. I was pretty much lying down on her, our faces barely five inches apart. I could feel her breath on my cheeks. It smelled like the woods, a nice fresh tree sap smell.

"Be quiet," I whispered. "The guards...the flag...right around the corner. What's the plan now?"

Thalia stared up at me, her electric blue eyes seemingly burning me to a crisp. "I'll distract the guards and you'll take the flag."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "You don't want the credit of getting the flag?"

Still staring into my face, she said reluctantly, "Y-yeah. You can take the credit."

I grinned and got off of her. "All right. Go get 'em, _my queen_."

She smirked and jumped into the clearing that I nearly walked into earlier. As she had gone left, I turned to sneak right.

"Daughter of Zeus!" I heard one of the guards yell.

"Hi-ya!" I heard Thalia yell and the clang of metal rung around the clearing.

Through the trees, I could see some Apollo campers faking out the red team's defense, pretending to go forward before retreating once again. I winced as one of the Apollo guys fell into a trap, most likely set by the Hephaestus campers. Not a trap as in people surrounding someone. Trap as in falling into a hole of sticky glue or something.

I continued sneaking around the edge of the clearing, watching as Thalia kept her ground against two guards. Then, out of nowhere, another red team member dropped down from the trees and attacked Thalia. She didn't falter and parried him. She was doing a superb job, but I knew she couldn't handle it forever.

As I creeped closer to the flag, which indeed was on Zeus' Fist, I debated in my mind whether to help Thalia first, or not. I decided to help her after I took the flag. I snuck around to the back of the "fist" and started climbing.

I nimbly scaled the pile of rocks and snatched the flag. Just as I reached the top and grabbed the flag, one of the guards noticed me. "Distraction! Percy Jackson has the flag!" Then he charged at me.

The other two guards turned to me, confused. They didn't have time to react as Thalia slammed two blows to the sides of their heads. I could see their eyes seem to vibrate as they collapsed to the ground.

I slid down Zeus' fist and knocked over the third guard who was trying to cover me. I yelled at Thalia, "Lightning!"

As I sprinted off toward the border, Thalia let loose a giant arc of lightning loose in the sky, our signal that the flag had been capture. Immediately, I saw the Apollo and Hermes attackers retreat slightly, disappearing into the forest.

As I sprinted off toward the border, the wind blowing in my face like I was some sort of superhero. I heard shouting in the distance and nearby me. I felt as something cut into my skin, but I kept running. I didn't care.

Thunder echoed in the sky. I thought I also heard a howl of some sort, but I couldn't be sure. I continued running, Luke and Ethan sprinting up to cover me. I felt like I was in some sort of scene in a movie, everything around me moving in slow motion, the camera panning along my path of running.

I saw campers urgent running back and forth - which ones defending and which ones attacking I couldn't tell.

I ducked under the swipe of a sword and made a loop around a tree. I sidestepped a charge, causing the people tailing me to get run over by a charging Ares kid.

"Almost there!" I heard someone yell. I looked forward and saw that the creek border was not too far away. I could reach it soon.

I continued sprinting, dodging and weaving around obstacles. I managed to reach five feet from the creek borders before something huge, the size of a grizzly bear tackle me into the ground.

"Hellhound!" I heard someone yell and instinctively, I stabbed the beast before it could slash me to pieces. The sounds of clanging metal had come to a quick stop, eyes full of fear turned toward me.

I heard people running toward me and I saw Ethan, Luke, Thalia and Annabeth break through the crowd. Annabeth gasped when he saw me. Luke and Thalia had grim expressions. Ethan looked angry.

"Who allowed a hellhound into camp?!" he bellowed. "Who allowed this monstrous beast into the borders of camp?!"

I felt my senses getting weaker and duller for some unknown reason.

"You almost killed a camper!" yelled Ethan. He turned to me. "Percy. We have to bring you to the infirmary, now!"

I looked down and with a start, I realized that I had been cut badly by anything I had fought. If I stayed like this for a couple more hours, I would bleed out to my death.

Just then, Chiron burst into the clearing, the two Aphrodite girls Thalia and I had run into lying on his back. "What is this? A hellhound?"

"Whoever did this will pay," snarled Ethan. I hadn't seen him so protective over anything. He rarely got like this. Usually, Ethan was a nice and caring guy who was liked by everyone. I guess camp was his home and he didn't want it to be messed with. "Come, Percy. Let's get you to the infirmary."

"Hold on a sec," I said, my voice sounding weaker than usual. "Let's just win the game first."

I hopped over the creek with the remaining strength I had left and stuck the flag into the ground. At first, the flag shimmered sea-green so I had to pray to the gods to tell them to give credit to Hermes. After all, his cabin did host me...for now. I knew this was the time to tell camp. It was now or never.

Then the flag shimmered silver, and the boar and spear replaced by a huge caduceus. Despite what had just happened, the blue team burst into half-hearted cheers.

"The blue team wins," said Chiron, just as half-heartedly. "Percy. I believe I know what you are to do next."

I nodded and stepped into the creek. As soon as I made contact with the water, I could feel power surge through me and all of my cuts began to close. Campers all around gasped. But that wasn't why.

Above me, there was a symbol. I was being claimed. Above me, there was the symbol of my father. It was a trident, the symbol of Poseidon. And as if the god was calling me out, I stuck my hand out, the water from the creek surging up into my left palm, which didn't hold any weapon, and formed a liquid trident.

"It is determined," Chiron announced.

Around me, all of the campers started kneeling except for Luke, Annabeth and Thalia who were shell-shocked. Even the Ares cabin kneeled, though they looked like they weren't enjoying it.

"Your father, Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy. Au revoir.**

**Hey everyone,**

**This story has turned into one of my best, but I still feel like I need your opinion on what I should write next. Send me your thoughts by PM or by reviewing. Plus, vote on the poll.**

**I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the story above.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	24. The Waking Storm

**Hey everyone,**

**This is more like a filler chapter. I wanted to add more, but the end of this chapter seemed kind of nice as to what I was going to end it with. Next chapter. I'll try to put out the next chapter soon. Just wait. Also, only a couple more chapters and it's the end of the story. I'm not going to write the entire "Lightning Thief" adventure. It will just be a small reflection by Percy on what happened.**

**Thanks to all of those who reviewed (most reviews in any chapter so far I believe with 22 or 23):  
Mundster Madman, Addicted to PJO, Wolfking57, , fatesmask, SonOfPoseidon05, Justrockzyxx, Blackcurse11, DeathmatchDrunkard, patzhang05, LyingTruth123, ray (Guest), R3D N3BuLOS17Y, Die hard fan (Guest), Mithun (Guest), FaTaLClanWii, Guest, Guest, May Salome Love, yanksrock615, chronos the cookie thief, redlox2 & IcyRose66.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Περσεύς 24**

**The Waking Storm**

"What is your problem?" I yelled.

"Just stop bothering me," Annabeth snapped.

"What did I ever do to you?" I asked. "Just because I'm the son of Poseidon? Just because of that you don't like me anymore?"

"I said stop!" she snapped again.

"I thought you were supposed to be wise," I said. "But apparently, being wise means to judge people because of their heritage rather than their merits. Maybe you aren't Athena's daughter. Maybe you're just some fake, dumb blonde."

Annabeth turned on her heel and glared up at me. With those flashing gray eyes, she looked like a wolf ready to pounce on her prey. "What did you say?" she said in a steely calm voice.

I bit back a mean retort. Instead, I sighed and asked politely, "Please, Annabeth. I need you on the quest. You and Grover."

"Why me and Grover?" she said. Then she shook her head. "Wait, don't change the subject. What did you say?"

"You heard me! I need you on the quest."

"Why not Thalia or Luke?"

"You have the brains. You're way smarter than the other two."

"Then why did you call me a fake, dumb blonde?"

"Because I was angry, okay? Just please. I need you to go on the quest with me. You'll help...a lot."

"So you were angry, huh?" she scoffed. She stepped up to challenge me. It kind of worked because even though she was a year younger, she was my height. "Actually, the factual reason why you said that was because you want to make yourself feel better because of your extremely low IQ. You're even dumber than a turkey."

I scowled.

"I bet you don't even know how stupid a turkey is," she snapped.

"Annabeth-"

"Sure, you can bother me about going on a quest. Sure, you can try to make me not dislike you. But you've crossed the line. _Never_ call me a dumb blonde."

And with that, she turned again and stormed toward the arena. I hesitated when I took a step forward. Should I follow her or not?

I needed Annabeth for the quest because I knew I wasn't the smartest person out there and she was pretty intelligent. Thalia and Luke would be good fighters, but I'm sure I would've been able to take care of Grover and Annabeth by myself.

In frustration, I went to the tetherball court and punched the ball, sending it spinning angrily around the pole. Even after hitting it several times, I still had anger and frustration boiling in me from the argument with Annabeth.

_Why couldn't she accept me for the person I was?_

I angrily sent a roundhouse kick at the ball and miraculously, the ball, the string still attached to it, went flying down the hill toward the canoe lake.

I sighed, all of my frustration and anger dissipating. Then I went down to the beach to calm my thoughts.

I watched as the waves pounded against the shore. It was only the day after Capture the Flag and Chiron had given me permission to go on the quest. I already got the prophecy and one of my partners. However, Chiron said that I needed two partners so I tried to get Annabeth as my second partner, aside from Grover, who I wanted to help get his license thing.

As evident, it didn't work.

Somehow, at night, Annabeth had changed her view of me because of my father. Just because Athena and Poseidon had a rivalry, the entire Athena cabin probably hated my guts. I thought I read somewhere that Athena and Poseidon had cooperated a couple of times in history. During the Trojan War, they were both on the Greek side. I think that they made the chariot together, Athena the actual chariot and my father the horses.

So why did people have to be influenced by parentage. Aphrodite kids often called Hephaestus kids ugly (except for Silena). Ares kids tended to be ruthless to anybody. Hermes kids tended to prank the Demeter cabin. It just shouldn't be how the way things should be.

I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head, like a memory trying to break through a barrier, though it receded in a little while. The way camp should have been was that everyone lived their own life, acted as they wanted, not to care what others think of them, and look at people as their own individual. I wasn't a copy of Poseidon. I was his son.

I pointed out at the water and made a huge fountain of the liquid explode up into the air like a water fountain show. I felt a stinging in my gut, but it wasn't painful. After doing that multiple times, I realized that I was feeding off of my anger and frustration.

The anger and frustration would never go away until things were made right. I was no son of Zeus, but I wanted to help turn this camp into something a little better, where everyone is treated like family..._real_ family. I didn't necessarily want to lead, but I would take the opportunity to help.

I heard thunder echo in the sky, as if it was a warning to hurry up and find the stupid lightning bolt. Thunder echoed again.

"Fine!" I yelled into the sky. "Fine, I'll hurry up and find your _wonderful_ lightning bolt, o' King of the Gods."

Angry thunder rumbled.

"_Di immortales_!" I yelled.

"What's wrong?" I heard someone behind me say.

I turned to find Thalia standing at the top of the mini hill that blocked the view of most of camp. She was still wearing her usual outfit: an army jacket, ripped skinny jeans, a shirt with DEATH TO BARBIE written across the chest and black eyeliner. All in all, she looked like her scary self.

You see, Thalia was one of the only people who didn't ignore me after learning my parentage. Most people started keeping their distance from me, knowing why I was so powerful, not wanting to anger me in any way. Some hated me even more, like the Athena cabin and Ares cabin. It had made Aphrodite campers wary of me and even made some who liked talking to me before bow when I walked by. The only ones who hadn't changed were Thalia and Ethan.

Even Luke had changed. At least, that's what I perceived this morning during breakfast.

"Thalia! Wait up!" Luke yelled from somewhere behind her.

Soon, his figure appeared on top of the hill and when he saw me, he stopped. "Oh, hey Percy."

"Luke-"

"No. It's all right, Percy," he said. "It took some getting used to, and though the gods aren't the best parents...they always 'fall in love.'"

He put quotation marks around _fall in love_ because everyone knew it was just lust. The gods didn't really love mortals. I guess my mother and Poseidon were a special case. I also noticed that Luke was playing with his necklace as he looked at the ground.

"That necklace...it's a gift from your father, right?" I asked.

Luke snapped his head up. "What? Oh, yeah. It's a magic sword that turns into a necklace." He opened his mouth as if to say more, but closed it without making a peep. Luke turned to Thalia and started having a miniature conversation with her.

While they talked, I noticed that his necklace was also a locket. When he was playing with it, he had flipped it open to a very nice picture. It was Hermes...and another woman who was definitely Luke's mom, but not creepy. She held a baby in her arms and Hermes was looking at the child like he really _did_ care about Luke...which he _did_.

I had noticed the slight sad look in Luke's eyes when he was staring at the ground. Maybe before, Luke had never gotten any help from Hermes and Luke had resented him. Then as he got older and met his dad, he realized that his dad _was_ there. In the photo, Luke looked at least one year old.

I remembered Thalia saying she got stuck in the Lotus Hotel and Casino with Luke. Maybe it was Hermes who got them out. Then, Luke and Hermes might have had a conversation and...

"Percy!" Thalia yelled, interrupting my thoughts.

"Huh?" I blinked, startled by the sudden noise.

"Percy? What's wrong? I saw you kick the tetherball and then make an angry water fountain show," Thalia asked. "Are you okay?"

"It's...it's nothing. I'm just a little mad at Annabeth."

"Why?" Luke frowned. "What did she do?"

I sighed, turning around to look at Long Island Sound. "She dislikes me because I'm the son of Poseidon and I called her a dumb blonde so she said my IQ was lower than a turkey's."

Luke snorted. "Well of course she said that your IQ was lower than a turkey's. Never call Annabeth a dumb blonde. That's one of the stupidest things you can ever do in your life."

"You did that," stated Thalia.

"That's another story," sighed Luke. He turned to me. "Anyway, you said she dislikes you because you're the son of Poseidon?"

I nodded. "Why does this happen? Why can't people learn to judge people by their merits rather than their heritage?"

"Don't feel too bad," said Thalia, putting a hand on my shoulder. "People treat like royalty just because my dad is the King of the Gods. Like I said, I didn't choose to be born like this."

"Well, at least they treat you fairly," I snapped. "People treat me like I'm an outcast because I'm the son of a lesser important god. My father is just as important as the rest of the gods. Just because he is one of the Big Three, but not the king, he and his children deserve to be treated like this?"

"People don't treat Poseidon like he's an outcast," said Luke. "People just...don't appreciate him as much as Zeus. At least you're lucky. You said you'd met your father multiple times. In my memory...only once."

"Percy," Thalia said, "I'll talk to Annabeth to see if she can apologize or at least talk it out with you. Luke and I will bring her to you if we're able to do that. If she's reluctant...well, then we'll use force. And maybe, just maybe, you'll only destroy _one_ cabin."

"Gee, that's reassuring," said Luke. "I actually have a nice spot now that I'm head counselor."

"Get over it, Castellan," Thalia said, rolling her eyes. "You'll still get a nice spot."

Luke grinned at her. "You know. You may just be right."

She laughed and turned to me one last time. "We'll see what we can do. Try not to feel bad about yourself. We all go through this."

Thalia hesitated but gave me a quick hug before taking off.

Luke smirked at me as I stared at Thalia's disappearing figure. "Dude," Luke said. "Batter up! If you get a good hit, you might make it to first base soon."

"First base?" I asked.

"I'll show you on the computer I stole from the Big House," he said. "And if your jaw doesn't drop, you'll make a home run within six years."

He smiled at me as he strode off, following Thalia.

Before he disappeared from sight, I yelled out at him. "Please help get Annabeth to at least tolerate me. I don't want to ruin our friendship because of a silly fight. Besides, she totally likes you."

"Got it," he smiled cockily, but I saw a light shade of pink on his cheeks before he finally disappeared from my view.

That caused a question to pop up in my head. Did Luke like Annabeth back? Why did I feel a little awkward at that? Did Thalia have any feelings for Luke? Why was I thinking about that? Why did Thalia hug me? What was first base? What was a home run? I knew Luke wasn't talking about baseball.

I sighed and breathed out heavily, the questions sucked right out of my head as if they were in my breath. What was I going to do? Why didn't Luke or Thalia ask why they weren't going on the quest? Why didn't...why am I asking myself questions again?

I sighed once more and got back up to do other random activities.

I walked down to the Pegasus stables where Silena was helping kids work with the winged horses. I heard a lot of comments from the horses, complaining and whining about having to have different people ride them constantly. Some complained that the campers were annoying and some whined about their backs.

"Hey, Percy," called Silena when she saw me.

"Hey," I called back, walking until I stood at her side. I looked out at the campers, some soaring high in the sky and some struggling to even get close to the horse. "How are they doing? Better?"

Silena sighed. "The Hermes guys are starting to get the hang of it. They still need some-"

"No. The pegasi," I interrupted. "How are _they_ doing?"

"Oh. They're doing fine," she said. "Sometimes they seem like they are annoyed by the campers. They only really calm down when either I alone am in the presence of them. Or you." She turned to me as if she was going to ask for some advice or something, but just then, a pegasus swooped down from the sky with a screaming Apollo kid on his back. "Control him, Nick. Don't grip tightly. Let loose. Pegasi like to be free."

Instead, I saw the pegasus swerve in the air and plummet down toward the ground.

"Anyway..." Silena said, turning back to me. She didn't seem worried about the crashing pegasus. Neither was I. It was because the pegasus knew how to control himself or herself so that he or she wouldn't crash. "Have you talked to Charlie much?"

I racked my brain for the name Charlie. Who in camp was named Charlie? It was probably short for Charles. The only Charles I knew was Beckendorf, but everyone referred to him as Beckendorf. "You mean Charles Beckendorf? Head counselor of the Hephaestus cabin?"

Silena nodded.

"I haven't really spoken to him lately. Why?"

She looked a little crestfallen. "Oh... I was just wondering."

"Why do you call him Charlie?"

"It sounds better," she simply stated. "Appearances aren't _everything_."

"Apparently, that's wrong...according to your siblings."

"That's because they don't know the true meaning of love. I've always followed Aphrodite's rites of passages, but I'm not so sure it is _always_ the right thing," she said. She seemed to grab what I thought to be a necklace. "My mom is the goddess of love, though she doesn't really love anyone. Love isn't just about appearances. It's also about the personality of someone who you love. If they are nice, you fall for them easily. Most of my sisters and brothers follow in Mom's footsteps, hunting for someone to break their heart or just because they give them something desirable. Though, in my opinion, I can tell who is good looking or not...and my brothers, who are the children of the most beautiful goddess don't compete with some other people in this camp."

"Huh, you don't say?" I said. "I heard people say that Luke was the most handsome guy at camp."

"Probably," Silena shrugged. "I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I know Luke came with Thalia and Annabeth, but I think he likes Annabeth more. Isn't that exciting? A love triangle!"

Then Silena's Aphrodite genes took over.

"It would so fun to make it suspenseful. I guess that's my mom's job though." Then she got this glint in her eye and turned to me. "Maybe even a love quadrilateral!"

I looked at her blankly. She rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you don't know what a quadrilateral is. Don't you know what deoxyribonucleic acid is?"

"DNA," I replied still staring at her in shock because she knew what that was.

"Exactly. And you don't know what a quadrilateral is? A four-sided shape."

"How do you know that?" I asked.

She smiled sweetly. "I go to school, Percy. I'm not an airhead." She turned back toward the group of campers. "Well, it looks like I gotta go. See you around, Percy. Oh, and tell Charlie...tell him I said hi."

The way she said it made her seem like she was nervous, but I shrugged it off. "Okay, Silena. See you."

She waved goodbye as she mounted her pegasus and flew off into the sky.

I turned to go to the forge where Beckendorf usually was. He would be constantly making weapons or machinery to help the camp in all sorts of ways. Most campers I talked to said good things about Beckendorf. I talked to him once and he was a pretty nice guy. He was a couple years older than me, the same age as Silena and Luke. He was a large African-American guy with huge muscles and large calloused hands.

I reached the forge in no time to see Beckendorf on a mini break. He was drinking a glass of water, but he wasn't sitting down and he was standing right in front of a fire. There were piles of swords around him and some of his siblings.

He waved when he saw me, still drinking water. I walked up to him and nodded.

"So," Beckendorf said, putting down his glass of water, "what's up, Percy."

Did I neglect to mention he and Silena were also two people who weren't afraid of me just because I was the son of Poseidon?

"Nothin' much. Just the usual: getting ignored, people hating me and so on," I replied.

Beckendorf frowned. "Tough luck. Anyway, what are you doing here?" He picked up his glass of water and started drinking again.

"Oh, I was just dropping by to deliver a message. Silena said, 'Hi.'"

Beckendorf did a spit take. "Wait, what?"

A couple of Beckendorf's siblings chuckled at him. Despite their hardened faces and large muscles, Hephaestus kids did have emotions. Beckendorf looked like he'd been told there was a UFO flying around the area. His eyes were bulged out like crazy. "She...sh-she said...hi?"

"Yeah," I said, drawing the word out. "Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite, said hi."

"Oh," Beckendorf let out a little nervous laughter. "Well, tell her I said hi, as well. Also, tell her that if she ever needs anything made for her, I'll be here to make it for her."

"Sure."

"Thanks, Percy. I really don't know why people are afraid of you. You're a really nice guy."

"Don't mention it. Lots of campers say you're nice, too," I complimented.

The Hephaestus kids at the forge glanced at me after that compliment. They seemed to be deciding whether I truly was an all-powerful, cocky, arrogant son of Poseidon. Or whether I was just a regular son of Poseidon who acts like a normal camper.

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "I almost forgot. You guys have really good craftsmanship. If it weren't for the armor you guys made, I would've been sliced to pieces last night. Happy Saturday." And with that, I turned around and strode off back toward the pegasus stables.

When I got there, some Hermes kids were standing there talking about something I didn't care to listen about. After they saw me, all three of them stiffened up. Two of the guys I recognized as Travis and Connor Stoll. They were brothers, not twins, but they might as well have been. They both had curly brown hair and blue eyes.

"Hey, Travis. Hey, Connor. Hey, uh, Chris. Have you guys seen Silena?" I only guessed the third guy, but it seemed as though I got his name right.

Chris responded, "She's soaring up above the cabins trying to teach Ethan how to fly his pegasus. Before, with our help, he pranked the pegasi so I don't think they trust him anymore. In fact, I don't think they trust any of the Hermes kids anymore. It's why we're standing here."

"Yeah," the Stolls chimed in.

"Thanks guys. You're a lot of help."

Then I sprinted down toward the cabins. As I neared them, I opened my mouth to yell something out, but before I could, someone grabbed me from behind and covered my mouth. I broke free of the "kidnapper's" grasp only to find Luke.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"We grabbed Annabeth. It's time for your talk."

He yanked me and pulled me toward my cabin. "Wait!" I yelled. "We're going to destroy _my_ cabin!"

Luke just laughed and brought me to the door. Thalia was standing at the entrance, holding the door closed as Annabeth was probably struggling to get out from the inside. "Hurry up, Luke! Annabeth may be small, but she's strong."

"Wait! Luke! At least tell Silena that Beckendorf told me to say that he said hi and that if she needs anything crafted, he'll make it for her," I told him.

"Easy," Luke nodded and shoved me into my cabin, knocking Annabeth and I over.

We both immediately bolted up and stared at each other. Her's was full of annoyance and anger. Mine was full of regret and forgiveness.

"So this is why," Annabeth snapped. "I've been having a bad day because of you. Did you tell Thalia and Luke to turn against me, _sea spawn_?"

"Here we go with the names," I groaned.

"_Here we go with the names_," mocked Annabeth. "What is your problem? I've had a bad twenty minutes since we last fought."

"You said you've been having a bad _day_."

"Whatever!" she snapped.

"Geez. Someone's having their period," I mumbled. I was immediately tackled to the floor. I didn't want to fight with Annabeth so I let her pin me to the ground.

"_What did you say_?" hissed Annabeth dangerously. She was like a bomb. Cut the wrong wire and _BOOM_!

"Listen, Annabeth," I tried to reason. "Just because I'm the son of Poseidon means I'm a bad person? What is your mother the goddess of?"

Annabeth hesitated. "She's the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, just warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill." I made a hand motion signaling her to go on. "She's also a shrewd companion of heroes and goddess of heroic endeavour."

"There you go," I said. "She'll look after you on our quest. Athena's flaw is pride. It's not deadly to her because she is immortal, but her immense pride causes some flaws in her experiences with other gods and goddesses."

Annabeth fidgeted while she had me pinned to the ground. "My fatal flaw is hubris, in case you didn't know."

"Did you say hummus?"

"No, hubris." Annabeth got up and helped me up. We sat on the edge of my bed. "It means deadly pride. It means that I think I can do anything better than anyone...even the gods. I...I always wanted to be an architect. You know that. I believe that I could make something permanent, something that'll last forever. Like bring my family back together...my father and Athena. I also believe that I can make Luke stop liking Thalia and like me instead. I...I'm..."

"You don't have to say it, Annabeth," I said. "See. This is better. We can have a nice civilized conversation. And now you see what is standing in your way. You want to impress your mother and you are too proud to realize that you are ruining our friendship. I'm not stupid...I'm slow."

Annabeth looked down guiltily. "Percy-"

"Who cares what your mother thinks? You're not her. You can make her proud in another way. Our parents may hate each other, but without really realizing it, they've been working together a little bit throughout the centuries. They fought together during the Trojan War. They created the chariot together. And to tell you the truth, I'm not my father. I'm a different person with different merits," I said. "There's one key thing that he has that I don't."

"And what's that?"

"...I don't know."

Annabeth smiled. I grinned at her knowing I had gotten to her core.

"Also, he doesn't anger as easily as I do."

"Oh, really?"

"Really."

Just then, the door opened revealing a satyr and a centaur, both smiling at us. "Well," Chiron said. "It looks as though we are having a quest after all."

* * *

**'Sup e'er'body. ****How are you all doing? I'll try to write the next chapter soon because I know you are eager to see what twists and turns I'll add. This chapter was meant to help explain Annabeth and Percy's relationship. Also, it was to subtly explain about a certain topic that will eventually become a major part in this series...just because I love making readers mad. Here, you obviously see that Beckendorf and Silena totally like each other. To see what role they play in the series...well, you have to continue reading this story.**

**I'm up to 247 favorites! That's impressive considering this is pretty much the only decent story that I've written on this site. My goal when I continue writing is to get at least 300 favorites within the next two stories (like 300 favorites on one of the stories...either this, the next one or the one after. When I finish this story, I will write down all of the story's favorites and followers in the author's note at the end. However, I just so you guys know, I'm going to put up the first chapter/prologue of the other story first so that when I tell you to go to the next story in the last chapter, it is already there for you guys to see.**

**I know I've been rambling, but I just wanted all 240-280 of you "favoriters" and followers to know what's goin' on.**

**Hey everyone,**

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**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	25. Truths & Revenge

**Hey everyone,**

**I wanted to thank you all with all of the support you've given me throughout this book. I would like to thank all those who favorited, followed and reviewed. I'm not going to recognize all of those who reviewed in the previous chapter, but I would like to thank those who reviewed for the story so much for the wonderful feedback. For the next story, I'm going to take into account who reviews and integrate what most people would like into the story if I haven't already planned or written the next chapter.**

**__****BY THE WAY, THE NEXT STORY IS ALREADY**** _UP._**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Περσεύς 25**

**Truths & Revenge**

The world was saved.

The prophecy that I had received from the Oracle came true. I figured that all that had happened had answered all of the lines of the prophecy that the creepy mummy had spoken.

_You shall go west, and face the god who has turned._ That turned out to be Ares, who was under Kronos' influence as learned when I fought him. As expected, I won that fight. I really was no contest. With all of the training I received, and with all of the advice Annabeth had given me, I easily dispatched Ares, stabbing his left shoulder.

_You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned._ Check. I delivered the Master Bolt to Zeus and let bats carry Hades' helm back to his oily head.

_You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend_. I was still unsure about that, but I figured that it was Ares. He had "befriended" us at the Denver diner and got us to run some errands for him. Then he betrayed me by trying to chop my head off. It was the best explanation I could think of for this one.

_And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end_. That last part was about my mother. It turns out Hades did take my mom away from Elysium, though he didn't harm her at all. She was kept locked in the palace, enchanted so that she could not leave until I returned what I "stole." I got a dream message from Hades himself saying that he sent my mother back to Elysium and that he gave a slight thanks for returning his helm. However, I was still not on his good side...not even close.

The quest was over, the prophecy fulfilled. But why, even after the rest of the summer, did I feel...uneasy?

Nothing had gone wrong between the time I arrived back and now. In fact, I had burned the shroud that the Ares cabin had made in case I died. It was fun. I also scaled the climbing wall and climbed back down without getting scorched by lava. Oh, and the party that camp threw, because the last quest member who had come back to Half-Blood Hill alive was Ethan, was awesome.

Grover received his satyr license to go look for Pan, the god of the wild. Annabeth was mobbed by her cabinmates and Luke and Thalia. They congratulated her for surviving. In all honesty, Annabeth was pretty freaked out when I told her Kronos would try to suck us into Tartarus when we arrived at the Underworld. Otherwise, she handled the quest really well.

The only ones who hadn't enjoyed my return was the Ares cabin, showing me they'd never forgive me for disgracing their dad. I was fine with that.

I also remembered when it was the Fourth of July and the four of us (Luke, Thalia, Annabeth and I) set up a picnic blanket. We had our sad farewells to Grover. He was off to look for Pan, to search for the long lost god. The fact that no satyr ever returned from their quests scared the heebie-jeebies out of me. He had to be the first.

After he left, I watched as fireworks exploded in the sky. Different images appeared every time it exploded: Hercules killing the Nemean Lion, and George Washington (who was a son of Athena, if you didn't know) crossing the Delaware, and even more.

Summer passed quickly, Capture the Flag grabbing my attention every Friday. I helped Annabeth devise new strategies to keep the laurels away from Ares. The fact that our team had two of the best swordfighters in camp, the daughter of Zeus and an ingenious daughter of Athena didn't really make every game a blowout.

Why? Well, let me put it this way. Thalia and I are children of the Big Three. We are kind of similar, though we have our differences, and we tend to have slight disagreements. Some of the Hermes and Apollo kids say that watching us fight is more entertaining than watching television. I wasn't so sure how.

Every single time we fought, she ended up burning my clothes and I ended up drenching her in water. We could work together, but fighting was our special talent. So, the Hermes and Athena cabins constantly kept the flags.

It was still fun, though. I got to fight...even if I did get electrocuted every time.

I smiled, reminiscing those times during the summer. I played with my new necklace, one single clay bead attached to it. It was designed fittingly according to what had happened over the summer...except for one major flaw that was probably a joke.

I had seen the original design and it was supposed to be a bolt of lightning and a trident crossing, symbolising the first demigods of the Big Three in a long time. However, the design of the final product was just a trident and a bolt of lightning, side by side, along with an owl above it and two snakes curled along the base of the two weapons. In between the lightning bolt and the trident was a tiny pink little heart. It was barely visible, but it was there.

That final design showed the four new campers of the summer and their close relationship...at least that was what it was in my opinion.

The smile dropped from my face when a sudden chill rolled over me. It was as if a monster was looming over me. Then a shadow appeared above me, making me turn around suddenly and pull out my weapon. It turned out it was only Thalia.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"What? I can't say hi to a friend? Besides, get used to it," she smiled. "I'll be scaring you a lot until next summer. There's lots of things to do at camp."

Another chill rolled over me and I snapped my head right.

I could almost sense Thalia's smile drop off her face. "What's wrong? Did something follow you and Annabeth back to camp?"

"No...it's just..."

"_BOO_!" Ethan yelled as he jumped out of the bushes.

"Whoa!" I said flinching. At the same time, I heard a girly scream come from next to me. Both Ethan and I turned to Thalia. She was scowling.

"You two won't say _anything_," she threatened. "If you do..." she trailed off, letting our imaginations take over.

"Don't worry," Ethan promised, "we won't say anything. Anyway, the real reason I was here was to ask Percy if he wanted to fight some monsters with me. But, since you're here, why don't you join us?"

Thalia and I looked at each other. Simultaneously, we said, "Sure, why not?"

All three of us went to the middle of the forest to where the creek was. The heat was so intense that most monsters were probably hiding in the depths of the dark woods. Instead, we had to sit on a rock and enjoy the sunlight peering in through the trees.

Ethan sighed. "Well, this stinks."

Thalia and I nodded in agreement. It was a pretty bad day to look for monsters to kill. I'm pretty sure that heat was almost as bad to monsters as celestial bronze was.

"Hey, Thalia," spoke Ethan. "I remembered that I forgot the Coke. You want to get it? I'll pay you five drachmas."

"Wow," whistled Thalia. "Five drachmas to get some Coke? Sure, where is it?"

"It's just sitting on my bed in the Hermes cabin," said Ethan. "You'll see it right away."

Thalia nodded and headed off to go get our refreshments. I watched as she disappeared into the crowd of trees.

"Why didn't you get it yourself?" I asked. "And how did you get Cokes into camp? I didn't think they were allowed?"

"Well, if you talk to the right people, Coke is really easy to smuggle into camp," explained Ethan. "And for the other reason...I think you might want to sit tight. This might take a while."

Ethan got up and unsheathed a sword. It was not one of the camp's swords for sure. For once, it was much longer than the blades that camp had. The biggest difference, however, was the fact that there were two metals: celestial bronze and mortal steel. I knew I had a knife with mortal steel on it, but Ethan's was a sword.

He caught me looking. "This is Backbiter. I named it because one day, I hope this will get to bite back at everything that has been promised to me in the past."

"What?"

Ethan smiled crookedly. "Have you ever wondered what it would be like if we had lived in the Golden Age?"

"You mean Kronos' era? Terrible."

"Well, I always thought that maybe it would've been better," he said. "They say that during that era, men were all free. Everyone would be able to do what they pleased. Everyone would get the respect they deserve. Everyone would be happy."

Then he snapped his fingers. A small fire burned a hole in the ground at my feet. Out crawled something glistening black, about the size of my hand. A scorpion.

"Ethan! What in the-"

Then it hit me.

_You will be betrayed by the one who calls you a friend._

"You!" I snarled.

The scorpion crawled up onto my shoe.

"Pit scorpions," smiled Ethan cruelly. Unlike his usual nice self, he acted almost as if he had changed his personality in a couple of minutes. "Pit scorpions can jump up to fifteen feet. Its stinger can pierce right through your clothes. You'll be dead in sixty seconds."

"When?"

"Florida. All of those years ago when you felt that chill," he laughed. "I can't believe you didn't realize that I had been serving Kronos all these years. You know that my mother is Nemesis, goddess of revenge. On Olympus she gets no respect. Why should she support the gods in any way? Kronos is rising. It's the perfect opportunity to get revenge on the power-hungry gods. I summoned that hellhound in the forest in June."

"And you stole the lightning bolt," I growled. In just a matter of seconds, I had gone from respecting this guy to hating his guts. The one thing that I hated more than confined spaces was being betrayed. "What would siding with Kronos accomplish? You'll destroy the world. He'll destroy the world."

Ethan's eye flared. "You don't know what he'll do. He promised to save Western Civilization. We'll build this place anew. We'll start over, shaping the world in our image. It will be an image that will last eternity. Nothing can make us falter. Not even the gods. Yes, I did steal the lightning bolt. Why? Because after talking with the Lord and with my mother, I realized that the Olympians were all selfish, arrogant beings with no regard for the feelings of others. I was dumped here at this landfill of a camp and was never claimed. Do you know why? Because my mother didn't have a cabin here. There's no respect for me or my mother."

"The campers respect you," I said honestly. "They look up to you."

"But that's because I give a lot!" he snapped. "I give and give and give and give. But do I ever take? NO! I sacrifice everything to be able to live well here. I go to Olympus and all of the gods regard their children. When Chiron introduced me, all of the gods weren't paying attention. They were either doing their own thing or staring at their own children."

The scorpion was now sitting on my thigh.

"Then, I got angry and stole Zeus' bolt and Hades' helm," Ethan boasted. "The gods would never think that anyone would dare steal from them. I was halfway across New Jersey by the time the gods found my theft. And I was taking my gods-damn sweet time. I could've taken the bolt and helm all the way to Kronos, but I got cocky and careless. Ares eventually caught me. He was going to bring me back to Zeus for punishment, but Kronos spoke into my mind. He told me what to say. We brought up the idea of a war, a three-way slugfest between Zeus, Hades and Poseidon. That bought him."

"Why do you want to join Kronos?" I snarled. "He's feeding you lies. I spoke with a Titan myself, the Titan of Knowledge, Coeus. He said Kronos was foolish to try to make a comeback."

"Lies!" bellowed Ethan. "The Lord sent you dreams, too. You should've listened to him. Luke may have too."

"You hurt me all you want, but you don't bring my friends into this!" I growled.

Ethan just laughed, a cruel laugh. "Goodbye, Percy. Have a nice afterlife."

"Percy!" I heard two people yell off to my left.

Ethan swiped his sword in an arc and disappeared into thin air. At the same time, the pit scorpion lunged at me. Immediately, I called on the water from the creek and grabbed the scorpion before it could touch me...at least I thought I got it before it stung me. Angrily, I crushed my fist over the scorpion, using the strength of the water to squeeze the life out of the monster.

I was about to congratulate myself when I saw that the scorpion actually did sting me. My palm had a huge red welt, oozing and smoking with yellow guck. I turned to Luke and Thalia, who rushed up to me with worried eyes.

My ears pounded. My vision went foggy. "Help," I croaked. "Luke. Don't join Kronos."

I saw the panicked face of Luke and the worried face of Thalia as they, with the help of some wood nymphs helped me get back to camp. I had less than a minute left until I would die. I needed help soon.

I remember making it to the clearing, Luke and Thalia shouting for help, a centaur blowing a conch horn.

Then everything went black.

HORIZONTAL

I woke to the taste of nectar in my mouth. I was propped up in bed in the sickroom of the Big House, my right hand bandaged like a club. Argus stood guard in the corner. Annabeth sat next to me, holding my nectar glass and dabbing a washcloth on my forehead.

"Hey, Anna," I said.

She rolled her eyes. "Idiot. But I'm glad you're not dead. You were green and turning gray when we found you. If it weren't for Chiron's healing..."

"Now, now," I heard Chiron's voice. "I believe the nymphs, Luke and Thalia deserve some credit as well."

He was sitting near the foot of my bed in human form, which was why I hadn't noticed him yet. His lower half was magically compacted into the wheelchair, his upper half dressed in a coat and tie. He smiled, but his face looked weary and pale.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Like my insides have been frozen, then microwaved."

"Who did this to you, Percy?" Annabeth asked worriedly. "All I remember was that Thalia was furious, and so was Luke. Luke said something about never joining _him_. Do you know what that means? They won't tell me anything."

Just then, Thalia and Luke burst through the door. "Percy!" called Thalia. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied. Both of them looked angry, their eyebrows scrunched up and their eyes blazing like blue flames. Thalia even had electricity crackling along her fingertips. "You know," I started, "if you had sandy-blonde hair, Thalia, you and Luke could really pass off as siblings."

Thalia looked at Luke before turning away, a sad look on her face. What was wrong?

"Maybe," mused Luke. "But then I need electric blue eyes. How am I supposed to get electric blue eyes?"

"All you really need are blue eyes, blonde hair, be tall, strong, act like me...and have a scar on your upper lip, where you tried to eat a staple," she chuckled sadly.

Luke, Annabeth and I looked at her confused. The only one who didn't look confused was Chiron. Either he knew something, or he was really good at hiding his emotions. Thalia let a rare tear drop out of her eyes. She looked at us with teary eyes, looking like rain from a thunderstorm. "Excuse me. I'll be back."

Luke and Annabeth both got up to follow Thalia, but Chiron halted them. "She'll be fine. Now, Percy. Tell us who the thief is. Who stole the Master Bolt and the Helm of Darkness?"

I took a deep breath in, and in between sips of nectar, I told them the story.

"So that's why you said you would never join _him_," Annabeth said to Luke. The she looked taken aback. "You wanted to join _him_ before? You..."

Luke winced and told us about his dreams. "I constantly got dreams from _him_. He would talk to me, try to convince me, that joining his cause would be beneficial. I was uncertain, but until now, his way seemed better. The gods aren't the best. They haven't been there for us when we need it. Only when we don't."

"Luke!"

"It's the truth, Annabeth."

Chiron just sat there, his face grim. His eyes seemed cloudy though they were brown. I wondered if Chiron knew more than he seemed to let on. Even though anyone could tell that he wanted to keep the truth from us, there was even more in the deep pits of his thoughts. It was as if he knew the exact threat that Kronos could bring if he were to make a return.

"I can't believe that you would say that!" retorted Annabeth. Then her voice got softer. "Please tell me you're lying. You aren't joining _him_. Please, Luke, please."

Luke looked at Annabeth, a pained look in his eyes. He then pulled her into a hug. His eyes traveled over to me. I weakly pointed at his necklace and mouthed "Lotus Hotel. He saved you."

Hermes may not have always been there for Luke when he was attacked by dangerous monsters. Hermes may not have been there for Luke when he was growing up with his crazy mother. Hermes may not have been there for Luke when Luke was hurt. However, Hermes was there to support Luke when he needed it. Hermes followed the rules and listened when Zeus said that he couldn't interfere with his children's life. Hermes may have had a reputation of being a troublemaker, but he didn't constantly break rules. I witnessed this myself when Hermes came to me for help. I wasn't his child so he could get away with talking to me.

Luke caught my message and patted Annabeth on the back. "Don't worry, Annie. I won't let you down. I'll never let you down."

I heard muffled sobs coming from Annabeth. Then, I turned to Chiron. "We have to go after Ethan. He's going out there to help Kronos rise. I told you once of the threat. I neglected to tell you this. Some minor gods are being manipulated by the Titan Lord to join his side. He is using the same arguments Ethan said to me. Chiron, if you can, please warn the gods of this. They may be proud and sometimes arrogant, but they will listen if there is a threat. Athena will have to see this, if Zeus does not."

Chiron sighed heavily. "Percy, you must not rush into things. You are not going to go after Ethan. You may be a superb fighter, but you are not invincible. Even the slightest of cuts may hinder your fighting and then you will be overwhelmed. You have impeccable offense, but your defense is mediocre."

"But-"

"That is final, Percy," Chiron said. "You may not get revenge on Ethan at this point. You must work on your defense first, to learning more strategies. Despite that, you will be happy to find that you will be getting some revenge tomorrow."

As soon as he said that, Thalia walked into the room. "Sorry for that breakdown earlier and...what is that?" She was pointing so something behind me.

Everyone turned around to see a box there. I recognized my own writing on there, a box with a deadly weapon inside. I heard Annabeth gasp when she recognized what the box was. I could sense the confusion of Luke and Thalia.

"Like I asked, what is that?" Thalia repeated.

"A box of revenge," I responded. "And Chiron, forget tomorrow. I'm doing this today. Right now."

"Percy. You are not fully healed yet. It is not a wise choice to-"

Just the thought of the damage that I could do with what was inside. It filled my brain with thoughts of revenge, anger and ruthlessness. My body surged with energy. Anger fueled me like gasoline did cars. The desire for revenge flooded my thoughts and I got up from the infirmary bed. I struggled a little, but managed to get up without falling.

Turning to Chiron, I said, "Who said I was wise?"

My idea clicked in Annabeth's head and her previously horrified and sad face immediately morphed into one of justice. I wasn't out for revenge because I was a bad person. My target was the bad person and the law, my law, needed to stop him.

Annabeth smiled and pulled away from Luke. "That is a brilliant idea, Percy. Who knew you could actually come up with something decent?"

"I told you, I'm slow, not stupid."

"Um..." Luke trailed off. "Can somebody clear this up for me? I have no idea what you're talking about. What is this about Percy coming up with a good idea?"

"Yeah, I'm uninformed as well," called Thalia. "Can you fill me in on the details?"

I smirked and grabbed the box. "What do snakes, hair and statues have in common?"

Luke and Thalia's faces remained blank.

Annabeth tapped the box. "What carves stone so perfectly, that it was almost as if they were frozen right on the spot?"

Luke and Thalia's eyes widened. "You didn't tell me you faced Medusa!" they yelled simultaneously. After a couple moments of silence, they grinned. Luke said, "But that is a pretty good idea killing...you know who."

Chiron gave a slight smile. "I know you will do what is right, whether it be sparing the man's life or brutally killing him. You have good judgement, Percy. Make sure you are not doing things on impulse. Don't kill the innocent."

It sounded like there was a hidden message in there, but I got the overall gist of the message. Don't kill anyone there who is innocent.

I promise Chiron. I took a step forward but ended up face planting. After Thalia and Luke helped me up, I looked at the three of my friends and my mentor. "Okay, I may need some help until we get to the apartment. I want to kill him myself."

Thalia, Luke and Annabeth nodded. "That's acceptable," they chimed in together.

I snarled my most vicious snarl in my life. "You hurt me, it's all right. But abusing my mom is going too far, Gabe. I promise you that I will give you the worst death any mortal can ever receive. And just for payback, I may even make money off of you. Beware, Gabriel Ugliano."

HORIZONTAL

The next day, I knocked on the door of Gabe's apartment, Luke, Thalia and Annabeth behind me.

Surprisingly, it was Eddie who opened the door. He faced me shocked and awed that I had come back...with people. Luke, Thalia and Annabeth all glared at him, thinking he was one of Gabe's close buddies. I held a hand up telling them he was on our side.

Eddie looked at the box. "You gonna give him payback for hurting your mom? I hope so. He shot me in both knees. I had to have surgery to fix my cartilage. And don't apologize for hurting me the last time you were here."

I could feel the rage that was building up in me. I could also sense that the three demigods behind me were barely holding back murderous looks on their faces and using all of the will to not storm up to Gabe and beat the living snot out of him.

"He shot you?" I asked calmly.

Eddie just nodded as if it were nothing.

"Eddie!" I heard Gabe call. "Who's at the door? The kids the doorman said were coming up?"

"Actually, these kids are some old friends," smiled Eddie as he welcomed us inside. "They're back with a special gift because you are such a special person."

I cringed as I saw the condition of the place. It was at least twice as bad as before, more beer cans strewn all over the floor. The place smelled like a pig sty. Why not a horse stable? Because to me, those smelled fine. I guess it came with being the son of Poseidon. I also wondered how Gabe and his friends hadn't been kicked out of this place yet. Inspectors had to have come at sometime.

"All right," I said. "So here's the plan. Eddie, lure them all out so that every single one of them comes out of the living room. Then, you three and I will each take one guy and tie them up with this rope. Then we'll tie them to chairs and 'freeze' them all."

"What rope?" asked Thalia.

"Oh." I reached into my pockets and brought out rope. I had packed that because I already had a plan going into this. I had just told the plan to the others. At first, it didn't include Eddie. I just wanted to barge in there, torture Gabe and kill him. However, Eddie the Innocent would fit quite well. _Don't kill the innocent_, Chiron had said.

I gave a length of rope to Thalia, Luke and Annabeth.

Eddie called out to where Gabe was. "Gabe. Everyone. Come out to see the kids. They brought such a wonderful present. You'll all love it." Eddie turned to us. "Hold on a second." Then he walked out of sight toward Gabe and his buddies.

Luke tapped me on the shoulder. "How do you know he isn't going to betray us?"

"Trust me," I said. "I know Eddie. Gabe's tortured him a lot. He's on our side."

Just then, Eddie turned around the corner and swerved to the side so that Gabe and his buddies got a clear line of sight of us. When Gabe saw me, his face turned purple from anger. "You!" he snarled. After he yelled, he faltered, as if he were expecting me to flinch. But I didn't. I wasn't afraid of the dirt bag anymore.

"Hey, Gabe. What's up?" I asked.

"Get him and his stupid friends," he ordered.

"Now!" I shouted. "Attack plan Omega!"

Thalia, Luke and Annabeth quickly sprung into action, pinning Gabe's friends to the floor before tying them up. It was no contest and my friends easily took down Gabe's fat friends. Each of their captives took a couple of blows to the head.

I had a staredown with Gabe.

"So," Gabe started. "This time you have to bring friends to help you. What a wimp."

"At least I don't hide behind lies and rely on other people to fight my battles for me," I retorted. "You're just a big bully. You hurt a child just because my mother wouldn't kill me. My mom never loved you. My mom only married you to protect me. You stink so bad, you cover up my special smell."

"What are you doing?" asked Annabeth. "Are you telling him?"

"Well, he's going to die, so he deserves to know that no one ever gave a single crap about him," I said, sneering at Gabe.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "You wish you could beat me. You can't. You surprised me last time."

"Oh yeah?" I challenged. "Bring it on. Try me."

Gabe stood still for a moment, keeping everything silent. I yawned and Gabe made his move. He was surprisingly quick, but not quick enough. I bent down, dodging his blow. I swiped his legs from underneath him and made him collapse. He rolled out of the way as I tried to stomp on him.

"You still sure you can beat me?" I asked.

"I'm just getting warmed up," Gabe smiled crookedly. He aimed a punch at my face, but I grabbed it with my hand.

I smiled evilly at him. "And I'm not even trying. But...now I am."

I sneered and grabbed both of Gabe's arms. I twisted them and kneed Gabe in his soft spot. He squeaked like a little mouse and I pulled him to the ground. I stomped on his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Then, I repeatedly punched his face until he was unconscious and bleeding like crazy.

I felt arms pull me from behind. "Stop! Percy, stop! You done enough. I think it's time to make the finishing touch," Eddie's voice said.

I resisted. "No! He needs to feel all of the pain I have felt. He needs to know what it feels like."

"Stop!" he yelled once again.

I realized he wanted to finish Gabe off as much as I wanted to, but Gabe was unconscious; he wouldn't feel the pain until he woke up. And when he wakes up, that's when he dies.

"All right, all right," I gave in.

Eddie nodded and we proceeded to tie the four unconscious guys to chairs. We lined them up so that they were all facing us. Annabeth checked their pockets for anything that they could use to try and escape from the bonds.

As Thalia, Luke and Annabeth checked the unconscious guys and tried waking them up, I pulled Eddie over to the side. "Eddie. What I am about to do is horrifying. You should go before it gets bad."

"No," he refused. "I'm going to stay here and watch Gabe get what he deserves."

After a couple more seconds of debating, I granted him permission to stay. "The only thing I advise you, though. Make sure, when I bring the final weapon out, you might want to close your eyes. If you don't...you'll die too."

Eddie gulped. "Okay. I won't open my eyes."

"They're awake!" exclaimed Annabeth. "They're waking up."

I smiled and grabbed the box off the kitchen counter. Gabe was the last to come to his senses. He had a really bloody face and his nose looked broken. Everyone else had bumps on their heads from being hit so hard. I guess they were softies and never faced true fighters among the streets. I think that all they did was sit in this apartment and drink beer.

"Hello, gentlemen," I announced, causing the heads of the four men who were tied up to snap toward me. Gabe snarled, but it sounded more like gurgling with his squashed nose. "I understand that most of you are wondering why I came here to tie you up. I also understand that you may be wondering why I am even alive. Well, to answer the second thought, I am alive because I am not some dim-witted delinquent who can't survive out on the streets. To answer the first thought, I am simply here to kill you for allowing Gabe to sexually, physically and verbally abuse my mother when she was alive."

"Let's get this over with," said Luke. "I want to see them dead for doing all of those horrible things to you and your mother."

I smiled, "My pleasure."

I opened the box and closed my eyes. I felt around for Medusa's head before I felt scaly hair. I slowly pulled the head out of the box and I felt the power of Medusa spread from her eyes. Holding it felt like I saw holding a gun, the recoil blasting back at me. I could hear loud hissing and terrified screams. I heard the cracking of stone and the power of Medusa's head die off. I stuffed the head back into the box and covered it up.

When I opened my eyes, I was glad to see Gabe and three of his friends sitting on the chairs like four statues. Annabeth, Thalia and Luke, though glad they were gone looked a little terrified of the power of turning people to stone. The worst reaction was Eddie. His expression made it seem like he thought he had gone mad. He stared at his old friends with an expression that had a mix of terror and disgust.

"I warned you," I told him.

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter." He gained the courage to look at me after realizing the terror I had brought. "But from now on, you will never hear from me again. I have enough savings to bring my wife and I to Seattle. We've been planning to move for a long time."

"You have a wife?" I asked surprised.

"Hard to believe, eh?"

"Well, I'm happy that you'll be able to move away from this dump," I smiled. "I hope that Gabe will never come back to haunt you."

"Yeah," he chuckled. "But I'm wondering...how did your weapon turn Gabe and the others to stone?"

My eyes widened, my brain unable to think of a logical explanation. I laughed nervously. "It's a long story. Anyway, you should probably get moving. I wouldn't want your wife to wait for too long." I pushed him toward the door.

"But-"

"It was nice seeing you again, Eddie," I said, opening the door and pushing him out. "Well, gotta go. Bye!" And I slammed the door in his face.

"What do we do with this?" Thalia asked, pointing to the statues of Gabe and his friends.

I was about to speak, but Luke interrupted me. "Percy. I just wanted to say sorry. I always thought that I had the worst childhood out of any living human on this planet. I-I just never knew what you went through. And you say Poseidon was never there for you?"

"Not until the day my mom died," I said.

Luke looked ashamed of himself.

"Don't feel guilty, Luke," I tried cheering him up. "None of us are fortunate born as demigods. But a hard lesson to learn by being a half-blood is that nothing ever comes easy. To be able to get something done well, we have to work. Nothing is given to us free. It makes us appreciate what we have and not be spoiled. We learn to make the best of what we have. That's something Ethan never really learned."

"Wow," whistled Thalia. "I didn't know you could be so...knowledgeable."

"Thanks, _my queen_," I said sarcastically.

"What is with you two and those nicknames?" Luke asked. "It's _peasant Percy_ and _Queen Thalia_. Why? Just why?"

"You can be merchant Luke," Thalia said.

I looked at Annabeth's princess-like hair. "Annabeth can be Princess Annabeth because her hair looks like a princesses. It's all curled up and stuff."

Annabeth blushed.

"Why not?" said Thalia.

"Why would _you_ call her princess?" asked Luke suspiciously. "You don't like Annabeth, do you? Because if you do, you'll have to pass the big brother test."

Thalia, Annabeth and I all looked at him. _Did he not get that Annabeth liked him?_ "What?" he asked. _Apparently not._

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Anyway, what are we going to do with these guys?"

I looked down and noticed something lying on the floor nearby the statues. I picked it up. It turned out to be a cell phone. Suddenly, a phone number flashed in my head and I got an idea. I turned to the other three. "I have an idea. Someone is going to take care of these statues after I do one last little thing. Be right back."

I sprinted down into the hall toward _the closet_. It had a very special item sitting in it that I hoped was still there. It was for the time Gabe had beat me up with it.

I opened the closet up to find the same old baseball bat that Gabe used to hit me several times when I was a little kid. I sprinted back down the same hall and back out to the kitchen where my friends stood watching over the statues.

"I see what you're doing," smiled Annabeth. Thalia and Luke got devilish grins on their faces when they saw what I was going to do. Annabeth piped up again, "But where are we going to go after this? My parents are going to pick me up from wherever we're going."

"Wait, your parents?" asked Luke. "The ones who mistreated you?"

Annabeth nervously shifted. "Well, one thing I've learned ever since meeting Percy is that everyone has good in them until they prove they don't. I'm going to try living with them again. If it doesn't work, again. If it doesn't work, again. I'll continue to do that until they prove that they don't want me in their life."

"But Annabeth-"

"Luke. They may be my blood family...well, just my dad...but you'll always be my first and best family," Annabeth stated. "Nothing can replace you two in that category. Percy, you too."

All three of us smiled at her. "Thanks, Annabeth," we said simultaneously.

"To answer your question," I started, "we're going to the cemetery. We're going to go say goodbye to my mother in a proper form. But first..."

I turned to Gabe's head and poked it with the blunt tip of the bat. I lined up the head and brought the bat backwards. "Heads up," I said. And I swung the bat.

_Crack!_

HORIZONTAL

"Here you go," Luke said, holding out a bunch of flowers he stole from a garden not far away. "I think it's a nice enough bouquet for your mother."

"Thanks Luke," I responded, grabbing the bunch of mixed flowers.

I walked up to my mother's grave. I had the worst feeling of déjà vu from the time I was in the cemetery in New Orleans all those years ago. I took a deep breath in. Unlike New Orleans, this grave was actually my mother's.

I gulped and started speaking. "Hey, mom. I've talked to you before. I kind of wish I had powers of Hades so that I could bring your ghost back to talk to you. However, I hope that you can hear me now. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for not saving you all those years ago. I'm sorry for making Hades kidnap your soul from Elysium. I want you to have a nice afterlife and I brought you a little hazard. But I did rescue you indirectly. I love you. I never want any harm for you. I remember my promise to never let anyone around me harmed and that if anyone were to get hurt it would me. So far, I kept my promise. I know I can't keep it forever, but to let you know, if I can ever visit you, I will. Love you, mom."

I placed the flowers in front of her tombstone.

My friends and I had a moment of silence to remember what she brought to the world. Thalia, Luke and Annabeth didn't know my mom well, but the way I described her made her seem like a goddess. That's because she was. She was better than any goddess. She barely had any faults and she was like a queen among women.

The day my mom died flashed in my head and I teared up. I saw the way she had bravely hung on to tell me the last of what I needed to do. I saw the way she fell, the look on her face showing she was ready to die. I saw the way she lay broken on the street.

_Are the gods truly better than the Titans?_ Kronos' question rang in my ears.

No, they were not. However, the terror the Kronos would unleash upon this world would be far worse than whatever the gods have done. The gods weren't perfect, but they still had their benefits. My mother was a victim in all of the Greek world, someone innocent who could not help but fall in love with my father.

"I don't know you very well, Ms. Jackson," said Annabeth. "In fact, I don't know you at all. But Percy describes you as the best woman in the world and act better than a goddess. I don't know if it's true or if it's all his wild imagination, but I still respect you highly for dealing with Gabe for all those years. I praise you on that."

Thalia stepped in. "I don't know you well either, Ms. Jackson. But Percy describes you as a kind-hearted, intelligent, warming soul that loved the living crap out of her son. I had always had trouble with my mother. She was...horrifying. I kind of wish that I could meet you one day, to see if you truly are what Percy says you are."

Luke was next. "I always thought that I had one of the hardest childhood's, the suffering that I received more painful than any other I had heard of before. I always thought that everyone was more fortunate than me. I thought that I deserved some good luck for once. I did. I met Percy. He's shown me that because we were both introduced into this world of the gods, we had to suffer. I never knew that in Percy's suffering, you also suffered. I already apologized to him, but I want to say that I'm sorry for all that you went through to protect your son. And you did it willingly. It's astonishing and amazing that someone who met a god didn't go crazy from power, opportunity and lust."

I smiled at Luke. It seemed as though he had changed. "Together. Ward off evil?"

The other three nodded and we stood around the four sides of the tombstone. Annabeth stood on the north side, representing the Titan of Wisdom, Coeus, being the smartest of all of us. Luke stood on the west side, representing Iapetus, Titan of the Mortal Life-Span, being the intimidator of us.. Thalia stood on the south, representing Krios, Titan of the Constellations, being the daughter of the Sky God. I stood at the east, representing Hyperion, Titan of the East, being the most powerful (in my opinion).

As we fixed our positions, we all stood facing outwards and made a clawed shape across our chests. Then we pushed out warding off all evil from the graveyard.

Then, we turned and smiled at each other. I noticed some figures walking toward us. The lead man a dusty-blonde hair similar to Annabeth's. There was a pretty lady standing behind, near the car where two little boys were playing with each other.

"Annabeth," her father stated simply.

"Dad," Annabeth said shyly. She looked as though she expected she would be punished for running away from home.

"Come along, Annabeth," her father said. "You'll be back with your other family in no time. I promise you that. Just please don't run away like that. You scared me and your stepmother."

Annabeth flinched like the words stung.

Her dad softened up. He looked a little uncomfortable. I assumed that it had been years since he last saw her daughter and he didn't know how to treat her as she got older. "How about we get you a nice book on the way? Maybe something that will remind you of your friends?"

Annabeth closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm not in trouble?" she asked.

"Of course not," he said softly. "I promise. You'll be back in no time."

Annabeth nodded and turned to hug each of us. "Bye Luke. Bye Thalia. Bye Seaweed Brain."

I grinned at the new nickname. "Bye to you too, Annie."

She scowled jokingly. "Only Luke can call me that."

"Whatever you say, Wise Girl."

She smiled and headed off with her dad, her face more enthusiastic now. I watched quietly as Annabeth and her dad loaded up in the car, driving off to Virginia, where Annabeth was from. I saw her talk to her little step-brothers happily, like she was beginning to realize that that was her family.

Luke was the first to break the silence. "It's so hard...seeing Annie go like this. She's like a little sister to me. Maybe even more."

Thalia spoke next, but instead of talking about what Luke had said, she spoke about the nicknames. "Since when did you guys have those nicknames for each other?"

"Quests can do a lot of things," I said. "We're friends; why can't we have nicknames?"

Thalia just shrugged. "I don't know."

"I could come up with nicknames for you guys right now," I said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Luke can be, uh, Snake Head."

"That's lame," said Luke.

Thalia nodded. "I agree. Just call him Luke."

"Okay. Thalia can be...Pinecone Face!" I exclaimed excitedly.

Thalia gave me a confused look. I sighed, explaining it to her. "You almost died on Half-Blood Hill. On top of Half-Blood Hill, there are pine trees for the fallen heroes of the Demigod Civil War. Therefore, you are a Pinecone Face."

She scowled at sent a streak of electricity at me. It zapped me right in my soft spot. Let's just say that it didn't feel good _at all_. I looked at her with an incredulous look. "Why would you ever hurt me because I gave you an insulting nickname? Annabeth's nickname for me is insulting. I don't mind."

Luke seemed to agree with me. "Yeah, Thals. It's actually a nice fit for- OW!"

She zapped him in his soft spot as well.

Right after, Gabe's phone, which I stole, rang. I picked it up. "Hello?"

A familiar voice spoke back to me from the other end. I smiled as I continued to listen to what he said. "You're already done?"

I got my response.

"So it's almost ready? One more night then we can come?"

I also got my response.

"Ready now? You have our stuff?"

The confirmation I received just capped off the perfect day. I pressed the "end call" button and dropped it to the ground. There were a couple people around, placing flowers at the graves of their loved ones, so I couldn't say that we killed someone out loud.

"They loved the sculptures. The place is ready."

* * *

**Shout outs to a lot of special people:**

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1Dlol, 1st Son of The Sea God, 6l4v4a is me, ASSASSIN OF ARTEMIS, AbigailPaine, AlexaRainForest, AlexisFoy27, Alturial, AlucardY17, AmandaSingh0, Aoirann, Aquatic-wolf, ArcheressxX, ArcticTempest, Ashlynn Grace, Asteraea, AundreaCarraway, Autumn Fantasy, AyameRose, BarcaFan, Bartimaeus12, BeautifulNoMatterWhat, Biidule, Black Roses for Hades girl, Blank1212, Blitzing Riptide, BookLuver102, Booklover0608, Chaos Mancer, Chaos Reincarnate, Chaos Son of none, Chaoticboy19, Coral Empire, Cosmic Avatar, Darkth Shadow, DaughterOfNeptune24, Daughter of Poseidon25434, Dauntlessness101, DeathmatchDrunkard, Del Diable Blac, Dominatus, Don't Stop Beliving, Donar, Dr4gon4life, Dragon Breeder, Drewdragon, Dronzer, E. E. Terrill, EDelta88, EmoFox112, EternallyArtemis, Experimental Agent 1123, Extended Cow, FR3AK5H0W, FaTaLClanWii, FanficReader101pj, FangAsh67, FattyKitty, FaxFanForever, , Force Unleashed 3, Gemu no zakari, GrayTheBlueJay, HERMES CHAMPION, HadesFTW, HarbingerLady, Hellfire44, Hoorayforcheese, Hunter0012, HunterX321, I-HATE-HAPPY-PEOPLE, I3Nico45, IamTiffanyDaughterofHermes, IcyRose66, I love cute things, Imper, Imperium Rhomania, InsanityRunsInMyBlood, Inspriation Lives On, ItCameFromOuterSpace, ItsTristanThoee, Izzyblackswan, JennStarr, Jia-Lerman-Jonas, Just-AWESOME-old-me, Justrockzyxx, Kage56, Kandake, Kebara, KeyofNostalgia, Kitstunefighter12, Kitsune95, Kyle ShadowStrider, Le tueur silencieux, Level136Combat, Limpet lamppost, Lord Jason, Lord Zandras, Lost on a Lonely Path, Lovely little Girl Vivienne, Luna George, Maneden, MargarethMidori chan, Max Ride Guardian of Bravery, May Salome Love, Mayor Hawkeye, MiSaNaHyu, Midnight Alwas, Midnight Starshine, MidnightSun0110, MilkTeaLord, Miss .Little Lady, , Mundster Madman, Mysticzz, Myth. , Naguse, Nathaniel Gabriel Baker, Neristhaed, NightmarishStar, NoWayOut89, Nomad0036, NuttyOwlette, Oblivion Caller, OrionLives, Pendragon134, PercyJackson the dragonborn, PercyPwnsAll, Perhea II, Phoenix1592, Pop55557, Qwerty232323, R3D N3BuLOS17Y, R6CBrNInja, RainbowGlory97, RiverChariot, RynNightShade, SaltOfTheWorld, Sanasuke, Scaket, Schocker, ShadowFlame Gabe, Shieldheart, ShotgunWilly, Sky and Wind, Slacon, Slytherin Studios, Snush, Sobekton, SonOfSeaGod, Son of Erebus god of Shadows, Sonofposeidonandathena, Son of the Seas, Sorry that username is taken, SpartanZ13, Stann, StarrieWolf1770, Steven3270, Stilphyell, SumGuyOvahDere, TANNtrum, The Army of Chaos, The Helios Spirit, TheKingOfAtlantis, TheMasterOfAllThingsSirius, TheObsidianEchinos, The Page Master Eternal, The Richmaster, The awesome MATT, Thecalmbeforthestormhunterhe ro, Toby860, Tskat, UltraMickey, Undy Pundy, V.I.D Vishii, Valkyrie's Vengence, Vzcp, WalkingStranger99, Water Child 1990, What If 'Girl07, WolfDragon97, Wolf Ignis, Wolfking57, Writingperson, Xpoviko, XxThisMyFriendIsAPenxX, Yomamma3, Yuna1591, Zaliya Lily, Zayad, accel0831, amoghtalwar, arashikaze, awesomeness-rocks, bebidoo2, bilboardcrabs, blackdepth, boyrich, briodeo97, brittbad1, .kawaii, chinas, chunsaAthena-chan, combinemanc, cr0ssfire1, crazychick444, currymonsta1512, daiki027, dark-whispering-secrets, darkrai6543, daughter-of-zues, devilfiend75, drpend, elinor phantomhive, erridius, fatesmask, felixkawaii, fjclay823, folding, fritofuzz, gama dokusha, greenblue22, heart-of-caramel, hunter98, hvnsfury, jacksonpotterridefan101, jhett599, jkellz, jmtl888, kaytie61400, kbeee, kingdom219, koolkimoov, koyuninjagirl, leadsea, lowrex, luk31000, mae2551, merlinfrikinrules, rhalopoff, midnightsun198, midnightwolf 97, mohahassan3, nightmare1214, nofunnybusnies, p4d, patsfan303, percyjason, persous the assassin, psycoticchild, redlox2, sakuralilian, sallutus, scarlet1474, seeweedbrain, sepulkath, serbian broski, severyuia, sgtharrison46, shanagan, sharknight6939, shawndeep, shooped, silverivymlp, slytheringirl4life, smartsoccerstar, smegol26, smenkus1, soccerlover91, sokkarocks, sstabeler, storyteller1333, the hotpocket hunter, tigerlover1412, ttim101, vogelflip123, wiseowl7, wolfbones, wolfhead, wyvern97, xaero.

**Favorites (256) (sorry if you aren't on there or your username is spelled wrong):**

1st Son of The Sea God, ASSASSIN OF ARTEMIS, Addicted to PJO, Akatsukichick2010, AlexJD2, AlexisFoy26, AliceIvyRose, Alturial, AlucardY17, Annabeth luvs Percy, AnuburakSsS, Aoirann, Aquatic-wolf, Archomonde, Asteraea, AundreaCarraway, Avatre91, BarcaFan, Ben1987, Biidule, Blackcurse11, Blacklist1000, BlizzardBlader, BookLuver102, BookReader10, BronwynMarie, Chaos Reincarnate, Chaos Son of none, Cosmic Avatar, DarkBelowZ, Dark paladin2k9, Darkth Shadow, DaughterOfNeptune24, Del Diable Blanc, Don't Stop Beliving, Donar, Dra4gon4life, DracoCovs, DragonBox94, DragonKingBahamut, Dragon of Death and Decay, Drewdragon, EDelta88, Eatspie161, Ericlau99, EternallyArtemis, Experimental Agent 1123, ExtendedCow, FaTaLClanWii, FangAsh67, , Firedragon189, FiretteAshlessFaette, Force Unleashed 3, Full-Throttle-Hornet, GrayTheBlueJay, HERMES CHAMPION, HadesFTW, Halliwell2002007, Hellfire44, HelloOlympus, Helseth, Holop, Hoorayforchesse, Hunter0012, I-HATE-HAPPY-PEOPLE, I3Nico45, IamTiffanyDaughterofHermes, IcyRose66, Imper, ItsTristanThoee, Jd007, Jia-Lerman-Jonas, Just-AWESOME-old-me, Justrockzyxx, Kandake, Katherine'TheChameleon'Jackson, KeyofNostalgia, Kistunefighter12, Kitsune95, Kyle ShadowStrider, LarkspursxSong, Leaseablue, LightningThunder20, Limpet lamppost, Luna George, LuvAnime4-Ever, LyingTruth123, Maneden, MargarethMidori chan, May Salome Love, Meteorthunder3, Midnight Fyreglow, Midnight Starshine, MidnightSun0110, Miss .Little Lady, MissRaevalynn, Mundster Madman, Nathaniel Gabriel Baker, Meomistress, NightCourt Reader, Nightmarefire, NightmarishStar, Ontril86, Outcaste, PJO is the best, Percabeth17, PercyJackson the dragonborn, Perhea II, PokemonandPJO, Pop55557, Princess Lena aka Lady Kittuna, Rajput, Sanasuke, Scaket, Shieldheart, ShotgunWilly, Sky and Wind, SonOfPoseidon05, Son of Erebus god of Shadows, Sonofposeidonandathena, SonoftheSea12, Sorry that username is taken, Spongebob Squarepants13, Starlighz, StephanieSmith, Steven3270, SumGuyOvahDere, Supreme King of Saiyans, SwimmingStyx, TANNtrum, TYRANT FOOL, ThaliaAndNicoForEver, ThatProdigy, The Helios Spirit, The Judge of Rokubi, TheKingOfAtlantis, TheMasterOfAllThingsSirius, TheObsidianEchinos, The awesome MATT, TheseusLives, Toby860, Undead69R, Undy Pundy, Urania Lycoris, Vzcp, WalkingStranger99, Winter-Buzz, Winter Alais, Wolfking57, Xeon50, Xero-zombie30, Xpoviko, XxThisMyFriendIsAPenXX, Yomamma3, Zexs, Zro28, aftereverything, anarchicDeviant, ashala, bball956, bigrig56, billybobojo, blackwolfjak, bloredforlife12, brentmiller888, brittbad1, chaos007, chinas, chronos the cookie thief, chunsaAthena-chan, combinemanc, conover7283, cr0ssfire1, crazychick444, daughter-of-zues, devilfiend75, dfghgfgjhdflvm, dogluvva99, elinor phantomhive, erridius, fatesmask, fictionfreak9, finediviner, fjclay823, flowerlvr2396, ghost800, godofwater, goodtoexcellent, gr33skittle, greenblue22, greenbluephoenix, harryalex143, hero of all, hvnsfury, iLuvTrains, jason8926, jenn008, jmc666, kaytie61400, kbeee, keyking24, kiwi1231, koyuninjagirl, laoibhseferry, life fandoms, livroddict, luk31000, michaellulax, michaelvogel0718, midnightsun198, midnightwolf 97, milenium88, misteriosayuri, mithun2389, mohahassan3, mustachmonkey05, mythologyrox, neko-hikage-chan, nightmare1214, noneofyourbusiness09, owlnight9, pao47, patsfan303, percyjason, percyolympian, persous the assassin, pjoinheritancefan, posidon23, psycoticchild, rinvampgirl, sallutus, serbian broski, serratoroceanic, sgtharrison46, siriusly not interested, slytheringirl4life, smartsoccerstar, soccerlover91, sokkarocks, sstabeler, thatdenosguy, the hotpocket hunter, tigerlover1412, vogelflip123, warmonger240, whitetigerwolf, wiseowl7, wolfbones, wolfhead, writerofher0wn, wulf the yeti, wyvern97, xanastian, yanksrock615, zacalexc.

_**BY THE WAY, THE NEXT STORY IS ALREADY**_** _UP._**

**Sorry for the messy thank you message, but the Fanfiction editor won't let me underline each individual. Sorry.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


	26. New Story

**Just wanted to let you guys know that the next story is up.**

**Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Into the Darkness**


	27. Extra Note

**I'm sorry to bother all of you readers again, but I would just like to regard something a recent reviewer has said. He or she (Yankeedouche) has disabled the private messaging feature so... here is the review from chapter 19.**

"I call EXTREME bullshit, you obviously don't know anything about about ancient greece. Fighting was a VERY important part of their culture, for ALL the city states. War broke out every couple of years between various cities and all me old enough to carry a shield and spear and wasn't old enough to walk with a cane fought (except the priests). And its ironic that you claim most greeks trained for individual fights when in actually all most ALL greek fighting consisted of hoplite and pike squares charging and pressing against each other, think a mosh pit with spears and shields. swords wear used only to kill someone who had gotten past or broken the shield wall, and by the oldest veterans in the back of the army to force the younger soldiers forward.

And also remembering a pseudo-philosophical conversation doesn't count as character development unless said character has amnesia, was somehow incapacitated, inebriated, or unconscious when the conversation happened,or if the conversation happened when the person remembering it was at an age where they should be too young to have any conscious memory; with out one of these things they should ALLREADY know what was said so therefore remembering it again should have no impact on them, unless there is a hidden message or riddle they just discovered."

**Now, yes. I agree with you for some of the parts in this review. It is true that "I" claim that most Greek trained for individual fights. But when I was writing this story, I didn't research actual facts about the real ancient Greece. I was going based on the Rick Riordan novels that he wrote. So, that part is my fault. Yes, I obviously now know that they fought mostly in units. Honestly, all I had written for this story was based on Rick Riordan's series. Plus, this is FanFiction... Anything can be made up.**

**Next, you say that fighting was important to the ****_culture_**** of the Greeks and that it is important to ALL of the city-states. While some sources may say that true to you, everything I have found that I have looked through (internet and library) never claim that. Then I research about the city-states and what they are about. I find out that Athens was the home to mathematics, philosophy and arts. Sure, ****_some_**** of the city-states believe fighting and war as good things, but not every single city-state.**

**The second paragraph...there is nothing wrong with that. You are being honest and fair, and about that, I was probably too stupid to realize what I was typing. I am not bothering to go back and check that. I'll take your word for it.**

**Back to the first paragraph, though... You don't have to be rude in your review. You never know. When you write in the perspective of another character, it doesn't mean the writer thinks the same. For example, writing in the perspective of Superman, you wouldn't make everything so literal. He's a superhero, so he is meant to be overpowered. Also, putting on glasses doesn't make you unrecognizable. I mean, at least have more than a few people get suspicious when they see Superman's face and Clark Kent's.**

**I only really have a minor, minor problem with your attitude. Sure, I did some things wrong, but I am writing a story in the perspective of a supposedly "obtuse and dense" young boy. Don't expect ****_him_**** to get historical facts right, bro. Just because I write that, does not make me automatically think that.**

**If any of you who read this know Yankeedouche please tell him or her to read this. I mean to disrespect to him or her, but I am just pointing out that they don't have to call me out as faults. Constructive criticism like "Actually, Greeks did not fight individually. They fought in large units of spear-men and only used swords as a last resort..." instead of "it's ironic that ****_you_**** claim..." Criticize me for having a problem when blaming me for things, but as a person, that is who I am. Through other reviewers, I have learned to be respectful in my replies and I hope none think I am being rude in posting this to all who read.**

**That said, for this post, feel free to blast me off for being stupid. It won't hurt my feelings this time, in case I have misread the context. Reading messages online are hard because you never really know the emotion behind it. That is why people feel safer posting rude stuff on the internet...because they do not actually have to say it to the receiver's face...in most cases.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


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